


Nostalgia: I Wandered Home Saying Your Name

by eightminutes



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-22
Updated: 2014-03-22
Packaged: 2017-12-24 06:36:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/936575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eightminutes/pseuds/eightminutes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi's a tattoo artist and Erwin comes in to have the Scouting Legion's wings tattooed on his back. On hiatus!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

((I did so much research about tattoos but I think there's still a lot of inaccuracies (sorry)! I don't have any tattoos myself.))

The lack of neon lights and cigarette butts outside the store is a pretty promising sign. So is the Board of Health certificate displayed on the store window (which is immaculately polished, Erwin notes). Really, after visiting roughly half a dozen tattoo parlors only to turn around in disappointment, Erwin was ready to either lower his standards or give up altogether. Some he walked away from after seeing improperly disposed needles or open ink cartridges, but most he was forced to leave after the artist couldn’t make anything out of his initial sketch. To be honest, his “sketch” wasn’t more than a few squiggles and lines, and Erwin was beginning to realize how unrealistic his goal had been.

This was the last place on his list, and Erwin had been hesitant about even visiting because most the reviews had complained about how the artist worked with a stick up his ass (though more than a couple commented on one of his hot employees). Despite all the complaints, this place had one of the highest reviews and Levi’s skill was said to be unrivaled.

So Erwin pushes the door open and walks in.

Apparently in the middle of an argument.

“Oluo, I can’t believe you’re going to dye your hair black! You’re still going to look nothing like the boss!”

“Quit shouting woman! I can do what I want!”

“You’re seriously so uncool I’m going to die of second hand embarrassment from looking at you.”

“Don’t collapse in here. I’d have to drag your fat butt out to the dumpster.”

“Who’s fat? I saw you sneaking cookies under the desk in class today!”

Erwin clears his throat before the fight gets any more childish. Both individuals whip around to look at him from his spot still near the door. The girl blushes from embarrassment while the guy - Oluo was it? - looks away with a ‘che’.

“I’m so sorry!” the girl immediately calls out, waving Erwin over to the counter. “How may I help you sir?”

Now that Erwin’s inside, he can truly appreciate how pristine the place is. It looks like someone had been hired specifically to polish the counter and the sample works framed on the wall. In any case, he didn’t really mind the bickering.

“I have a sketch idea and I was wondering if the artist would be able to render it into something more concrete. Could I just have a few minutes with him?”

Oluo looks Erwin up and down and seems to find him unacceptable. “Sorry, but the boss is busy right now. It says on the website to call ahead to get an appointment.”

Erwin’s slightly put off by the attitude, but he’s never been known for giving up easily. “I really just wanted him to look at the sketch and give me an initial assessment.”

Oluo looks like he’s about to defend his precious boss but the girl punches him in the gut and he ends up biting down hard on his tongue.

“Sorry about Oluo,” she continues easily, as if Oluo dripping blood down his chin was an everyday sight, “But unfortunately the boss is really busy at this time of the year.”

Erwin watches Oluo teeter to the backroom. “I'lll get an appointment for a later date then. When’s the earliest I can come in?”

Before she can answer, Oluo's voice comes out from the backroom, though slightly slurred. “Petra, isn’t boss booked for the next three months?”

Petra looks sheepish, but pulls a black binder from under the counter and flips through the pages looking for an opening. Erwin’s eyebrows shoot up involuntarily. This guy was seriously no joke.

“Nevermind then,” Erwin offers, to save her the embarrassment, “I can ju-”

“What’s all this noise?” The side door opens and out comes the smell of strong disinfectant, followed by a short, dark-haired man with a full sleeve down one arm. He stops when he sees Erwin, but stands there, lips pursed, eyes roaming up and down before deeming him not something worthy of immediate attention. At least that made it clear who Oluo got his nasty habits from.

“Sorry boss!” Petra and Oluo say at the same time. The man, evidently Levi, looks back at Erwin again, who flashes him a bright smile but is met with indifference.

“Mr...” Petra begins.

“Smith. Erwin Smith.”

“Mr. Smith has a sketch he wants to show you, but he’s unfortunately not on the immediate schedule,” Petra finishes.

“Boss, we can take care of this. No need to -” Oluo starts, but Levi cuts him off with a look.

“I’ve got a few minutes. I’ll take a look at the sketch that you’re all fussing so much about,” Levi says. Petra and Oluo both look thoroughly admonished. Levi walks back into the room and motions with a tilt of his head for Erwin to follow.

If the store front was neat, the work space was borderline obsessive. Clearly marked red biohazard bins lined the ground and single-use ink cartridges were stored by color on a shelf along the opposite wall. Even the small table and chairs seemed to be lined perfectly parallel to the walls. The room smells like a nauseating amount of bleach, but Erwin appreciates the cleanliness in this line of profession.

“So?” Levi asks.

Erwin's caught slightly off guard by the brusque attitude. “The place is really clean."

“Of course it is. But look here, this isn’t a house tour and I didn’t really ask. So what’s up with the sketch?” Today has to be a record for the amount of times he's been off-handedly insulted, which is saying a lot for a man with a high-stakes job. He’s not sure if this is a good or bad omen.

Erwin pulls the folded piece of paper out of his back pocket, and is reminded yet again what a mess the drawing was, especially in contrast to samples of Levi’s past works. Thankfully, the other’s face remains neutral while he accepts the crumpled sheet.

After a long while, Levi lets out, “Not bad.”

Erwin’s sure he’s being made fun of, although Levi doesn’t seem like the type make jokes. In fact, he’s assessing the sketch as if it were a prize piece.

“I know the picture’s not that clear,” Erwin starts, although that's a pretty optimistic assessment of his half-assed attempt. “It’s supposed to look like two interlinked wings. Kind of stylized.”

Levi hums slightly but otherwise doesn’t acknowledge the statement.

Erwin reaches over and points to some of the lines. “The feathers are more like separate blocks. There’s a bit of space between them.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Levi says finally. He grabs a sketchbook and sits himself down on one of the stools. Erwin’s hesitant to take a seat at the chair set for customers, not wanting Levi to rub him down with bleach lest he dirty the room. So Erwin remains standing while Levi has the sketchbook propped on his knees and is scribbling something furiously.

“Like this?” Levi asks, holding up the sketch. What Erwin sees on the page looks like Levi reached directly into his vision and pulled the image out. It’s rendered impossibly accurate, since Erwin himself hadn’t a good grasp on what the tattoo should look like, but seeing Levi’s picture just reaffirms that initial drive that forced Erwin to trudge through half the city on his day off.

“That’s perfect! Just like that, that’s amazing!” Erwin says, before he realizes the praises are lost on Levi, who stares back with the same bland expression.

“I’m just curious. What inspired this image?”

Erwin clears his throat. “I saw it in a dream a few weeks back, and it just seemed like something that should be on me. It’s a bit of a ridiculous impulse.”

Levi hesitates before flipping his arm over and pointing to the underside of his wrist. “See that?” He motions for Erwin to come close and sit on the chair. Erwin leans over a bit to see the tattoo he’s pointing at. “See what that says there?”

Erwin turns his head sideways to read the tattoo. “Bruce Lee.”

“Yea.”

“Seems like you like action movies.”

“No shit,” Levi says, and for some reason Erwin isn’t offended. “This is one of the first tattoos I got. There was this stray cat that camped out in an alley near me and I named it Bruce Lee. Talk about ridiculous impulses.”

Erwin reaches out to trace the precise lettering before he realizes what he’s doing. Levi flinches back and Erwin looks up, embarrassed. Levi rubs the area Erwin fingertips grazed, and Erwin subconsciously follows the path of Levi’s arm before it disappears into his black tee. He can see the edges of a few other tattoo peak out from below the collar.

“That’s not a terrible reason,” Erwin offers.

Levi snorts derisively. “My life’s been full of terrible choices.”

“Never trust anyone who says otherwise.”

“That’s probably the kind of self-help bullshit people distill into you.”

Erwin’s surprised by his own laughter. This isn’t the kind of cynical humor he’d enjoy, but something about Levi’s blunt honesty makes him unafraid to let down some gates.

“I’m sure your tattoos aren’t included in those terrible life choices.”

Levi looks at him as if he hadn’t expected him so say something so right.

“I don’t regret anything on this body,” he says, straightening in the chair. “Anyways, come back in a week, some time after we close shop, and I’ll have the cleaned up sketch.”

\----

The tattoo looks even better when Levi shows him the finalized design, with one wing shaded in. “It’ll make the image clearer,” Levi had said, and Erwin couldn’t appreciate the man’s talent more.

“Thanks for doing this by the way,” Erwin offers. “I know you don’t have to work this late.”

Levi shrugs. “Got nothing better to do on a Friday night than going home and watching some porn anyways.”

Erwin finds himself strangely all right with Levi’s brand of humor.

“Hey, take off your shirt.”

Erwin’s cheeriness evaporates and he shoots Levi a look.

“Oh, that’s a scary look,” Levi snorts. “Don’t pop a boner cause of me. I need to get the measurements right.”

Erwin still hesitates before he starts unbuttoning his dress shirt. Levi doesn’t bother to cover the way he looks at Erwin when he shrugs out of the shirt.

“Damn. And here I thought you had a boring desk job.”

“Ah, so you’ve discovered my secret identity.”

Levi moves to press the tape measure against Erwin’s back, and Erwin tries not to move at the touch. Sitting down, he’s at the right level to feel the hair at the top of his head sway under Levi’s even breath.

“You did a shitty job of covering it up Mr. Bond.”

Erwin hums in agreement.

“Too bad you’re not my type.” It comes out before Erwin has a time to rethink it, and he only prays that Levi understands the reference before things get awkward.

“Why, cause I have half a brain?” Levi says moving around the chair to face Erwin again.

“No, cause you’re single,” Erwin finishes. Levi has a self-indulgent smirk on his face and Erwin thinks how good even the hint of a smile looks. Levi looks like he’s about to say something more and suddenly Erwin realizes how close he’s treading to the edge.

He clears his throat before adding sheepishly, “Do you need any more measurements?”

To his credit, Levi keeps his face mostly neutral, though he looks expectedly put out. “No, I’m just going to scale up the sketch so I can transfer it onto stencil paper when it’s closer to inking day.” He watches Erwin pull his shirt back on. It’s not necessarily uncomfortable, and Erwin appreciates how forward the man is, especially after Erwin had been surrounded by coquettish looks and underhanded business tactics all day.

Erwin decides to be selfish and sits there with the shirt unbuttoned. “Do you mind if I watch?”

Levi raises an eyebrow in what, Erwin realizes, is fast becoming his signature way of conveying anything from contentedness to  _don’t be a little shit_ _._  “Sure, but this isn’t going to have you on the edge of your seat.”

Erwin shrugs. “I don’t have anything better to do on a Friday night.”

The corner of Levi’s lip twitch just a bit as he pulls out a large sheaf of paper and sets it on top of the work bench. “No girlfriend to go home to?” He gives Erwin a cursory look, adding, “Or boyfriends. Or friends with benefits. Whatever.”

Erwin forces himself to laugh at that. “What gives you the impression that it’d have to be a friend?”

“You seem too much of a decent person.”

“Ah, is that the impression you’re getting?”

Levi looks up, squinting. “Maybe not decent per say, but,” he pauses, thinking while his fingers twirl the pencil expertly, “I’d imagine you’d be able to give people what they want to see. No need for someone like you to get desperate enough for a cheap fuck.”

"Really? My ex used to say I was detached, so I'll take that as a compliment."

"It's not a compliment. You've got a lot of walls up."

Erwin watches Levi use a ruler to mark his measurements onto the paper. He’s in that same hazy limbo he felt when Levi had shown him the sketch the first time, like he’s seen this all played out somewhere below the cesspool of his memories. He’s not sure what’s going to come out of his mouth so he forces himself to keep it shut.

Levi’s definitely skilled, if not showing off a little, as he scales up the sketch with deft movements of his hand. The ruler lays abandoned to the side while he drew out impossibly straight lines, brows furrowed in concentration.  

“When’d you get your first tattoo?” Erwin asks before the silence extends too long, since it’s obvious he isn’t going to acknowledge the last statement. He wants to continue the conversation on a lighter vein, despite knowing he’s free to leave the shop at any point.

“Fifteen.”

“Is that even legal?”

“Apparently not, but I got it on my chest so no one found out.”

“Hiding from the parents?”

Levi shrugs, looking up and rubbing out a crick in his neck. “Partly, I guess. Mostly cause I didn’t get it to show off. I got it for me.” Levi twirls the pen a few times, shaking out the cramps in his hand. “I was young and I’d just began realizing I could live for myself.”

The conversation comes to a natural close and it’s a comfortable silence, so Erwin doesn’t expect Levi to continue. “I didn’t do it cause of the illegal appeal, like most young kids.”

Erwin drums his fingers along the edge of the chair. “So you did it for the pain.”

Levi looks up like he hasn’t expected Erwin to actually answer. “I’m surprised what you’ve been able to get right. Partly for the pain I guess.” 

Erwin doesn’t press on and Levi lets the conversation drop. When Levi’s done with the scaled sketch, he waves Erwin over to see if it looks alright on his back. Levi tells him to come next Monday night, when the shop is closed, so Levi can ink the final sketch.

It goes unspoken that coming in on a day off isn’t something Levi does.

\----

“It’s quiet without Petra and Oluo bickering up front,” Erwin says, as he takes off his shirt and moves to lie down on his stomach. He watches Levi take the shirt and fold it neatly before placing it on the table.

“They’re good kids,” Levi offers. “They’re just here for a part time job.”

Erwin laughs lightly. “It seems like you manage everything just fine. You’re like a one-man-brigade.”

Levi shrugs. “They’re trying to get themselves through university, and I needed someone to keep the front area clean.”

Erwin thinks that Levi’s  _nice_ _,_  if not in the traditional sense, but in the way he’s honest about everything he does.

Levi comes over with a small, single usage tube. “This is hair removal cream. It’s going to tingle a bit,” Levi says. Erwin’s thoughts must have shown clearly on his face because Levi rolls his eyes. “Can’t make a clean line if there’s hair in the way. Whatever, it grows back. Not gonna destroy your manhood.”

Levi rubs it on before washing his hands with warm water and soap. Erwin can hear him distinctly humming “happy birthday” twice, and no, that’s not cute at all. Levi grabs a couple more towels on the way back and folds them over a couple of times before shoving them under Erwin’s head.

“I figure you might as well be comfortable cause you’re going to be hanging out like this for a few hours,” Levi explains. The towels smell freshly laundered. The cream is starting to tingle, though it’s definitely not unpleasant. Erwin watches Levi remove a bag of needles from the storage and a few instruments from the autoclave before coming back and wiping the cream off with a damp towel and some alcohol.

Levi holds up a translucent piece of paper with the outline of his tattoo. “This is the stencil paper I traced before you arrived. I’m going to spray some stencil solution and pat it on so I have an outline to work with.” Erwin nods. After the traced outline is imprinted onto Erwin’s back, Levi sets up the inks and needles, still unopened, in neat rows on the side table.

“Nervous?” Levi asks. Erwin shakes his head. “It’s going to hurt a bit, especially here,” Levi says, running his fingers down Erwin’s spine. “We have topical anesthetic cream here, but I advise against using that cause once the effects wear off, the pain is going to be a real shit show.”

Erwin shrugs. For some reason Levi’s finger still linger on his lower back. “I don’t need that. I’m pretty good with pain.”

Levi washes his hands again before pulling on gloves and opening the first batch of needles to load the tattoo instrument. “It’s a lot like a pen. Basically uses electromagnets to push the needles down. If you want me to stop, just let me know. I’m just going to trace the outline and we can do shading in a bit.”

Levi starts on his lower back and his touch is light where he hovers over Erwin’s backside. The first few strokes are not too bad, mostly jolts not unlike getting pinched. Levi wipes the area with a wet cloth every few seconds and Erwin tries to focus on the rhythmic in and out of Levi’s breath on his back. Levi gives him a short warning before proceeding to the bony area of his spine, and Erwin grips the edge of the bench hard.

Levi pulls the pen off. “Talking makes it a lot better. You can tell me about yourself.”

Erwin shrugs a bit before he feels the tip of the instrument. “That’s alright, I’m sure you can guess my story. High stress, Midtown job, everything you’d expect when you look at me.” He smiles down to where Levi is, though the other is focused on his back and doesn’t see. “Why don’t you tell me about Bruce Lee? That cat I mean.”

Levi hums and it sounds positively delighted.

“You know I’m a lot more interesting than just a few tattoos,” he says, but he doesn’t sound annoyed in the least. “Bruce was an alley cat back when I hung around alleyways a lot.”

Erwin closes his eyes and listens to Levi talk. He isn’t an orator by any means, but there’s something relaxing about his tone of voice.

“I wasn’t allowed to have pets growing up, so it was strange to have a cat waiting for me every day,” Levi continues.

“It’s nice to have someone to come back to,” Erwin replies, half paying attention.

“So what about you? Any pets growing up?”

“No. I lived in an apartment so we couldn’t have any pets, and my parents said having something like a turtle or goldfish was a waste of space.”

“Let me guess. You were also an only child.”

Erwin stifles a chuckle. “Does it show that much? A lot of people tell me that I’m not good with sympathizing.” He pauses to think. “I think getting me a turtle might have been a good idea.”

“I was going to say only people without siblings would go and think of turtles as pets. Do you know how many diseases they have?”

“... You’re kind of a clean freak aren’t you?”

After a bit, the conversation comes back to the matter of Erwin’s dream. 

“You say you saw this winged symbol in a dream?”

“I don’t remember much, but I drew what I could grasp. I’m surprised you were able to design this from such a rough sketch.”

Levi pauses and Erwin thinks he’s going to change the subject, but he approaches it hesitantly.

“Did you see anything else?”

“Hm? Anything else in the dream?”

“Yeah, any person or something else?”

Erwin’s not sure why Levi’s so interested, but it doesn’t feel like he’s asking just to keep the conversation going. Levi’s breath comes out a bit uneven from where he’s breathing near the nape of Erwin’s neck. Erwin’s getting a bit skittish from being so close, for so long, to Levi.

“I had the feeling I was going really fast and leading a group of people. I just saw that image flash by for a short amount of time.”

Levi makes a small noise of acknowledgement, though he says nothing else for a while. There’s been a lot of silences when the conversation topics came to an end and Erwin doesn’t mind. He glances at the clock and is surprised he’s been here for a bit more than an hour already.

Levi wipes his back with the wet cloth before disposing of it as well as his gloves. “The outline is done, so I’m going to give you a bit of a break before we start the shading,” he says over the running water as he washes his hands again (clean freak, Erwin is inclined to think, before being happy that at least this place practices proper hand hygiene).

“I must say, that was a lot better than I thought,” Erwin says.

“You’re taking it a lot better than most people for their first time, especially since it covers such a large area.”

Levi offers him a cup of water, which Erwin accepts, so Levi leaves to fill two cups from the cooler in the break room. Erwin pushes himself up and can’t resist the urge to look over his shoulder at the image that’s there. Levi finds him contorting his body on the bench and pulls him in front of the double mirrors so he can see the design.

“That’s perfect,” Erwin says in awe. He flexes experimentally to see how it looks and thinks he deserves the sting of pain when his muscles shift. It’s exactly the winged image of his dreams, and for a second he can almost see it billowing in the wind on the back of someone’s cape.

He wonders for a second who that person is, but lets the thought drop.

“Ready for the shading?” Levi asks, washing his hands and pulling on a new set of gloves. Erwin sets his cup on the side counter next to Levi’s and nods.

The last part is just as bad, though the conversations keep going. Erwin realizes Levi probably has a list of conversation topics to talk about during these sessions, but sometimes, when the silences hang too long, he thinks that Levi’s telling him things he doesn’t tell customers. The man inspires confidence in his work, and Erwin can see why he'd been booked for nearly three months.

When the last bit is done, Levi changes gloves and rubs healing cream over the area before covering it in a light layer of gauze. “I’m going to give you a larger tub of the cream. Keep the bandage on for about twenty four hours and avoid basically everything. No hot water, no sun, no bubble baths, and keep it clean with antibacterial soap.” Levi hands him a few more after care items before tossing the shirt over. Erwin tosses it over his shoulder rather than putting it on and meets Levi out front.

Along with the receipt, Levi hands him a business card for the store. “That’s my personal number so you can call if you think there’s a problem with the tattoo. Come back in a week so I can check how it's healing.”

There’s something about the way Levi says it that makes Erwin linger at the counter. It’s not necessarily attraction, but Erwin’s intrigued by the man and he enjoys the attention. Yet Levi's  _nice_  and Erwin's most definitely not, so he doesn't pursue it.

"See you in a week," he says instead, walking out.


	2. Chapter 2

It’s Friday when Erwin walks back to the shop fifteen minutes before closing time. If he’s honest with himself, he’s been looking forward to this … reunion for a while, even if it’s strange to call it a reunion for a man he’s spent only a few hours with. Yet Levi’s presence seems to stir some vague memory in Erwin’s mind, and he’s determined to figure out what it is about Levi that jostled him out of his normal routine. Coming in to have his tattoo checked is just a convenient excuse.

Petra greets him when he enters the store, while Oluo gives him the same cursory glance, although without the previous venom. There’s another man with them today, a tall blonde with his hair tied back in a ponytail.

“If you’re waiting for the boss, he’s with another customer, but he should be out in a few minutes,” Petra says. She’s counting up the receipts from the day with Auruo’s help.

“That’s alright. I’m in no rush,” Erwin replies. The work day had ended surprisingly early, and he had enough time to drop his suit off at the dry cleaners before heading home to change into something more comfortable.

“Oh, you must be the famous Mr. Smith,” the tall one says. He’s sure he saw a wink from the other. “I’m Eld Gin, one of the piercing artists here.”

Erwin returns Erd’s easy smile. “You’ve got quite a crowd here.”

"It gets pretty packed sometimes so we kick Oluo out. He’s useless anyways,” Petra says. Oluo elbows Petra under the rib.

“It’s like a big family. Levi’s the mama,” Eld says. Erwin can’t help but laugh, picturing Levi reading a bedtime story with his usual deadpan expression.

“Che, it’s only crowded cause you’re here Eld. Friday’s not your usual work day,” Oluo counters, still sore from the earlier slight.

“Kids like you should be at home studying. I heard you didn’t do so well on that last midterm,” Eld replies. He turns back to Erwin, “Right now, I'm here as a side job while I get a masters in teaching. Gunter’s usually the main person here, though he’s on a break right now.”

Erwin smiles. “So Levi’s really like a mother cat collecting her strays.” He likes the people Levi works with, and the comfortable banter is a welcome change from a day discussing trite legal terms.

Levi walks out with a customer. He falters a bit when he sees Erwin give him a small wave, but he continues on as if he hadn’t seen the other man. By the looks of it, Levi’s with one of his regulars if the tattoos extending from his wrist to jawline are any indication. Everyone snaps to attention the second Levi comes out - Petra and Oluo grab the broom and dustpan and Eld begins spraying the windows and grabbing a clean cloth to wipe them down.

After ringing up the customer, Levi glares at Erwin, and he finds himself straightening up unconsciously. “If you’re just going to stand there being useless, help me clean up the work room.”

Erwin moves the chairs and work benches around while Levi sweeps nonexistent dust from underneath. When Levi’s finally satisfied, he walks back out, leaving Erwin to sit at one of the stools.

“You know, I can hear everything you brats say from inside the room,” Erwin hears Levi say. Petra laugh comes through, followed by Oluo's rebuttal and Eld trying to calm them all down. It’s such a marked difference from the interactions in Erwin’s company that he sits and listens, fingers tapping a light beat on the stool edge.

“They adore you, you know,” Erwin says when Levi comes back after dismissing the crew. Levi shrugs.

“Hard to tell with the way Oluo follows me around like a puppy sometimes.”

“You barely need the help, so why hire everyone?”

“It’s good to have someone balancing the books and keeping everything neat.” Levi pulls on some gloves and motions for Erwin to take off his shirt. “I charge what I do because I don’t want high school girls coming in and getting some shitty dolphin tattoo on their ankles. I don't really use the money.”

Levi presses a foot between Erwin’s legs to spin the stool around, and Erwin’s face heats up from the position, however brief.

“There’s some scabbing, but that’s expected.” He feels Levi brush his fingers along his back, trailing down his spine. Definitely unnecessary touching. “Any pain?”

“It’s not bad, just stings a bit now and then.” The worst was getting used to sleeping on his stomach and waking up the first day nearly suffocated on his pillow.

“I’m going to clean it a bit to see how the skin’s doing, so hang tight.” Erwin spins himself back around to watch Levi tiptoeing to reach the clean cloths. Levi glowers at him when he hears Erwin chuckle, and Erwin is quick to spin himself back over.

Levi sprays some sort of solution onto his back, his touch impossibly light. It only tingles as Levi rubs the cloth along the lines of his tattoo, and Erwin finds himself relaxing slightly.

“You know, a couple days ago, I had another one of those dreams,” Erwin says. Levi pauses briefly.

“Go on.”

“You’re going to think I’m being absolutely ridiculous,” Erwin says, “but I dreamed that I was fighting these gigantic things. They looked kind of like humans, but a lot more gruesome.” It’s almost comical now, thinking back to those creatures with their gaping jaws and off-kilter steps, yet Erwin had woken up in cold sweat.

Levi says nothing. Erwin shrugs, continuing, “Never mind, I guess it was pretty silly.”

“I’ve had those kinds of dreams before.”

Erwin glances back to see if Levi’s joking. “Really? Maybe it’s pretty common then. Maybe some horror movie came out a few years back that I’m not remembering.”

“Nah, it seemed too realistic. Like I was living in it,” Levi pats Erwin’s back dry. “At least for me anyways,” he adds.

Erwin thinks about this and finds himself agreeing. “Strange coincidence then?” He hears the faucet running in the background and lazily pulls the shirt back on. He sits, watching Levi wipe down the sink area, reluctant to leave. Despite the sterile, almost hospital-like ambiance, for once he feels like he has nothing to hide.

“Thank you,” Erwin says. Levi spares him a glance and Erwin rubs his elbow awkwardly. “You know, for doing this even when you’re this busy.”

Erwin supposes this is it. He feels like he’s letting something slip, especially with their recent connection, but Erwin’s always been a loner and this is not much different. He stands up with a long stretch.

“I’ll help you wipe down the stools,” he offers. Some part of his mind realizes he’s just pushing back the inevitable.

Levi ignores him and wipes down both stools while he stood watching.

“Hold on.”

Erwin looks down at Levi.

“Let’s get something to eat. You look like you want to talk.”

Erwin’s starving and could use some dinner. At least that’s what he tells himself. Besides, it had been less of a question and more of a statement.

\----

Why did Levi ever think Erwin would have better taste?

 _Must be because he looks like a sex god_ , he thinks as he’s herded into a crowded bar/burger combination. It's only few blocks from his shop, and he’s passed by the place more than enough to determine it’s definitely filled with underaged kids and sloppy service.

Somehow, Erwin manages to squeeze through the crowd congregating by the front door and pull up a chair for Levi at the corner of the bar. It’s the only seating available inside the alleyway-sized shop, and Levi hunches down and squeezes his elbows together to avoid touching anyone. And especially avoid touching the table.

The lighting’s too red for his taste, and the people around him are definitely too loud and most likely here to pregame before bar hopping. Levi thinks of the quiet meal he could have at home, but Erwin nudges him excitedly.

“I haven’t been here since college, but it really hasn’t changed,” he says, laughing.

“I didn’t think you’d come and eat greasy burgers,” Levi says. Erwin leans in to hear better, and Levi finds himself repeating it with his mouth just inches from Erwin’s ear.

Erwin grins back. “The food’s great! You have to try their Guinness shake!” Just the thought of a Guinness shake makes Levi nauseous, so Levi lets Erwin order. This was definitely not what he had in mind when he offered dinner.

Though he’s still not sure he was thinking when he made the offer.

It’s not so much Erwin as it is the tattoo he came into Levi’s shop to get. It’s definitely not a common design -- he even consulted with his team and the internet to see if it was possible Erwin had just seen it somewhere -- and the fact that he and Erwin dreamed of same thing was definitely not a coincidence. He’s not sure what to make of it, but Erwin’s personality wasn’t exactly off-putting and the fact that he was able to tolerate Levi’s crude humor was a good sign.

Their drinks arrive, along with an extra shake for Erwin, who passes it to Levi for the first sip. Levi pushes it back, grossed out by anything that looks that frothy, so Erwin shrugs and saves it for himself. A checkered container of chili cheese fries is passed in front of them, which Levi also declines.

“Come on,” Erwin says, leaning next to his ear. “Loosen up a bit and try something.”

“This looks disgusting,” Levi hisses back. For a second he doesn’t care if Erwin walks out on him right now, but Erwin just gives him a long look before picking up a few fries with his fork and bringing it near Levi’s mouth.

“I said no.”

“They’re really good.”

“Maybe if I was drunk.”

“There’s beer in front of you.”

Levi shoots a glare from beneath is bangs. “You’d have to think I was a seven year old girl if you really thought I’d get drunk from that.”

Truth be told, Levi has pretty low tolerance though, even if he’s a good drunk. He pushes Erwin’s arm away but feels a plop of something hot against his thigh. He doesn’t even need to look down to see what happened, judging by the way Erwin froze.

“Sorry, I didn’t-”

Levi shoves Erwin away to stalk to the bathroom to clean the chili and cheese mess from his pants. There’s a line in front of the unisex bathroom, but he shoves his way through, mostly because the girls are too drunk to notice. As soon as the girl inside steps out, he rushes in to wash off the grime.

His reflection in the mirror is a good indication of how the evening is going. Really, he couldn’t think of much that could ruin his mood faster than chili stained pants.

He’s planning on calling off the whole thing when he walks out, but he sees the bartender leaning over the counter just a bit too much at Erwin’s spot.

(To his credit, Erwin has his eyes on her face and is politely declining a free drink.)

Levi slides into his seat furiously, because  _are you serious_  this is the kind of thing that should only happen in TV shows, and perhaps leans just a bit too close to Erwin. He’s sitting with his shoulder against Erwin’s arm and is staring the bartender down.

At least Erwin plays along, and leans close to whisper into Levi’s ear, “That was very mean of you.”

Levi watches her leave indignantly, before turning back to Erwin. “She basically shoved her boobs in your face. And you call me mean.”

“Maybe I appreciated it.” Erwin’s having a hard time holding back a laugh at Levi’s face.

“Fucking feed me some fries. Now.”

“Huh?”

Levi stabs his fork into Erwin’s hand. “Now.” Erwin complies, amused. He’s never seen anyone eat chili cheese fries with such anger.

“I fucking hate this place.”

“Sorry.”

He’s not really sorry, and Levi realizes, kicking him under the table. Levi takes a swig of beer, and makes a face. “This place is shit. I can’t believe you used to eat here.”

“It has character.”

“You mean drunk college kids.”

“That’s what we were.” It’s a bit bittersweet for Erwin to think back to his college days, and he’s not sure where most of his classmates ended up. He was popular on campus, which gave the impression that he had friends.

Levi chugs the rest of his beer down. “Get me another one.”

He’s not sure if he’s trying to set a record for being the worst company ever or if he truly hates himself for sitting in a trashy burger bar. He’s not going to admit that the fries were really good.

“You really want me to talk to the bartender again?”

Levi glares at him and realizes he’s acting like a jealous girlfriend. Fuck.

“If you’re not going to at least let me have yours.”

Erwin pulls his mug away when Levi reaches for it, passing him the Guinness shake instead. Levi glares but takes a sip anyways.

"Relax. The music's pretty good." 

It's a dance track that Levi doesn't recognize, and he's pretty sure Erwin doesn't either. "Yea, you regretting spending your night with me now?"

"Not really. You still need to tell me about the rest of your tattoos."

Levi pauses. He's protective over his tattoos, even though he wears sleeveless tanks and T-shirts enough that most people would think he'd want to show them off at any moment. Being proud of his tattoos isn't the same as wanting to explain the backstory behind each one. 

"Maybe if you had asked at a less shitty place."

"Ah, then I guess I have to pick somewhere that lives up to your grand expectations."

"Bullshit, my expectations aren't high, they're  _realistic_. College bars aren't my thing."

Erwin takes a swig of beer, and Levi finds himself watching the bob of his Adam's apple, tracing the line of his neck down to his v-neck collar.

“So what’s your biggest fear?” Levi asks around the straw of his drink. He’s still stewing in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.

“Heights.” Levi sends him an incredulous look. “It’s a pretty common fear.”

“I didn’t expect a giant like you to be afraid of heights.”

Erwin smiles. Levi reaches for a fry, not minding that the cheese is a congealed mess by this point. “Well, it’s a pretty legitimate fear. It’s awful because my office has these floor length windows.”

“I’d kill for that. I love the sky. I’d love to go sky jumping or something.”

“Skydiving.”

“Whatever.” Levi’s definitely buzzed at this point, partly because it’s been so long since he’s had a drink.

“It is a good view. If you’re in the area, I’ll show you. Back when the July 4th fireworks were on the East River, I had a great seat from the office."

“Tell me about what you do.”

It feels a lot like a first date, even if Levi is grumpy and Erwin is too sober. Erwin looks good in the v-neck and dark jeans, just as good as he had in his dress shirt and pants, and that’s really not fair.

“I work in Midtown. It’s a great job with a company I believe in, but some of our clients are awful.” Erwin’s being purposefully vague, but Levi doesn’t seem to mind. The waitress brings their sliders over, and even Levi’s loosened up enough to look at them appraisingly.

“Try this one first,” Erwin says, rotating Levi’s plate. “The bacon ones are good, but the original is still the best burger on the menu.”

“You first.”

“What, you think it’s poisoned?”

“Just do it.”

Irritatingly, Erwin reaches over for Levi's burger, taking a comically large bite before giving a thumbs up. Levi takes his own bite right where Erwin had bitten and is disappointed that he actually likes it. This place still has none of the charm Erwin talks about, but the food is alright. Or maybe he’s buzzed enough.

“What do you think?”

“Mmm, it could be worse.”

“Admit it, it’s pretty good.”

“Could be worse.”

Erwin, he decides, has a fake laugh and a real laugh. He’s dealt with his share of awful laughs - Oluo's ranking pretty high up there - but Erwin laughs a bit too easily when he’s trying to get Levi to relax. Levi finds himself pulled in anyways, swinging his feet side to side under the table, knocking into Erwin’s legs occasionally.

It’s alright for a while, until a couple comes in looking for a seat and Erwin offers the girl his. He leans against the wall next to Levi, and it’s pretty awful because Levi can’t hear anything Erwin’s saying.

“Hey, let’s get out,” Levi says, standing up. He’s annoyed he has to stand on tiptoes to reach Erwin’s ears, and more annoyed that he’s a bit off balance. Erwin has a firm grip on his arm and leads him out after tossing a few bills down. Levi’s going to be last to admit he’s leaning a bit heavily on Erwin as they walk out.

The night air is nice, though Levi’s wondering when it’d gotten so dark.

“Which way are you going? I’ll take the subway with you,” Erwin offers. Levi shakes his head a bit.

“I live close enough to here that I usually walk. Subway’s like a block west if you're taking it.” Erwin’s still got his hand around Levi’s upper arm.

“I’ll walk you. I need a bit of fresh air anyways.”

Levi reaches up to smooth back his hair and Erwin lets go of his arm.

Erwin continues, “I forget how dark it gets in this city. Where I live, there’s usually so much light.”

“I wish it was darker.”

“Try going upstate. You’d probably be able to stars there too.”

Levi snorts. “Upstate is fucking hicksville. I’d eat my hand before going up there.”

“Ouch. I’m from upstate.” Erwin pretends to be insulted.

“Yea, you look like it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“Means that you look like you’d walk knee deep into shit before realizing it.”

“I’m sure that’s not what it means.”

“My parents moved upstate when I was in high school.”

There’s a bit of a pause because Levi hadn’t meant to share that. Erwin's smart enough to not to comment on it.

“My parents used to travel a lot. Business trips. Vacations.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“The vacations were the worst. It was just to keep up appearances.”

Levi realizes what Erwin’s doing and appreciates it. They’re only a couple blocks from his apartment and he wonders if he should bother inviting Erwin up. He’s not really in the mood for anything other than a shower, and he's not sure if Erwin is interested at all.

To be honest, Levi’s still unsure if he’s interested in Erwin because of the tattoo, or because Erwin happened to come into his life at a time when he’s beginning to realize how lonely it is in the city.

“I think that’s the North star,” Erwin says. Levi looks up.

“Bullshit. You can’t see anything with all the light pollution.”

“Right there. The brightest star.”

“That’s probably a plane or something dumbass.”

Erwin hums. “Maybe. But if you want it to be the North star, you just have to call it that.”

“That’s the kind of shit you would say.”

“That’s the kind of shit they teach you in law school.”

Levi squints at him. “What? You’re a lawyer? You never said that.”

Erwin shakes his head. “I went because all my professors said it would be a waste if I didn’t.”

“Sounds like an awful time.”

“It’s useful when you want to know how to bypass laws.”

Levi’s surprised by his own laugh. They’re a few steps in front of Levi’s apartment and the old dilemma comes back. If Erwin makes a move, he’ll invite him up.

“That’s the one,” Levi says, nodding over to his building. Erwin walks up to the door.

“That was a lot more fun than I’ve had in a while,” Erwin says. Levi makes a noncommittal noise. His hands find their way into his pockets, even though he’s trying not to seem nervous.

“Hey-”

“Let’s do that again some time,” Erwin interrupts. Levi stares at him.

“All right.”

Levi’s not sure what he’s expecting. Erwin’s made it clear he’s not here for a quick fuck, so maybe a kiss or something. He’s not expecting Erwin to walk away, waving over his shoulder and leaving Levi feeling like the fool of the century.

\----

((In my head, they’re in NYC, so if any of you are familiar with the area, Levi’s shop is near St. Marks and they went to Mark to eat sliders.))


	3. Chapter 3

(It’s Saturday morning for reference here, the day after part 2)

\----

One of the things about owning a tattoo parlor is that Levi’s days start late, and he has time to eat with his staff before opening. Eld and Gunter always bring their lunch over to eat, as well as Petra and Oluo on the weekends.

Everyone had quickly found out about Levi’s lunch preferences from the bites he’d steal from theirs. Even if he’s a clean freak, as everyone insists, he trusts his staff not to carry some disgusting oral disease. Besides, he’s not nearly as picky as everyone seems to assume.

(He thinks about the one too many greasy burgers he downed last night.)

Levi scrolls through his contacts list to text Eld to grab him a sandwich. But it’s not Eld’s number that catches his eye.

It’s the one under it.

Levi stops in his tracks and hears someone curse behind him.

Erwin Smith.

No fucking way.

Levi taps on the name and sure enough there’s his number.

When the fuck did that happen?

Levi remembers running to the bathroom to get the chili off his pants and thinks when he’d gotten careless enough around people to just leave his phone lying there. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that Erwin had gone and given his number.

Levi is immensely pleased, even if he’d punched someone if they called him out on it. Though it just makes Erwin’s actions last night even stranger.

His team keeps tossing him glances all through lunch. It’s only when Petra nearly spills her drink that Levi snaps.

“What?”

He glares at everyone in turn. Oluo bites down hastily on his sandwich (though from the looks of it, he probably bit his tongue again), lrd starts scrolling through his phone and Petra gulps down her bottle like she means it. Gunter’s the only one who looks him dead in the eye and says, “Boss, you seem really happy.”

Levi feels a vessel pop in his brain and at least Eld has the decency to raise an arm and look at his (nonexistent) watch and proclaim, “Look at the time guys! Better start cleaning up to open shop.”

Levi definitely didn’t spend a good portion of his breaks all day and the next thinking something to text about. What did people even text each other for? The most he’s done is text his team for lunch or supplies, or to get one of them to come in early. He thinks about texting Erwin for lunch, but that seems cliche.

So he finds himself in bed that Monday night, staring at the screen hoping for a witty line to come to him.

Did people even do that? Besides, it was nearly 2AM and much too late for him to text and have it come off as casual.

He’s suddenly annoyed that Erwin even gave his number. Part of him thinks it would be better if Erwin had just walked out of his life. Yet with as much ceremony as he’d walked in, it’s going to be impossible at this point for Erwin to just disappear.

It’s at times like this he wishes Hange were still somewhere where he could just dial her number and have her give him directions. Hange’s always been better with not pissing people off.

A new screen pops up and Levi suddenly realizes he’s pressed the green call button next to Erwin’s name.

_He doesn’t see the arm coming towards him before it smashes him into the tree, his grapple hook not releasing fast enough to swing him into safety._

Levi blinks, in front of him not dense forest but Erwin’s name and the call time.

Fuck, call time??? 0:01 0:02

Erwin speaks just one garbled syllable before Levi hangs up.

His heart is racing from the call and the scene that flashed right before his eyes.

His phone buzzes again with a call from Erwin. Levi thinks about ignoring it but that would be even worse.

“Hey.”

“Hello? This is Erwin Smith.”

Levi thinks about hanging up again because if Erwin doesn’t know who it is, then he still has a chance to redeem himself.

“Hello?”

Levi almost feels as if the bed is pulled from underneath him and he’s in free fall suddenly, in the middle of the forest thinking  _if only I reacted half a second faster._

“It’s Levi,” he nearly snarls with how urgently he answers.

“Oh Levi! Is something wrong?”

“No.”

“Ah.”

There’s a pause, before Levi offers a “what’s up?”

Erwin chuckles, and Levi hears something shift. Shit is he in bed? Levi looks down at his own sheets and thinks no shit he’s in bed, it’s 2AM.

“Not much. What’s up on your end?”

Levi sits up in bed.

“Not much.” There’s a pause, before Levi adds, “Did I wake you up?”

“No, no, not at all. I was still awake,” Erwin says.

Levi has nothing else to say. If he’s bad with conversation in person, he’s at least ten times worse on the phone when there are no visual cues.

“Is anything wrong?” Erwin presses.

“No.”

“You sure? If you need help, just let me know.”

“All right.”

Erwin laughs. “What? Are you angry I touched your phone when you left?”

“You don’t really have a sense of personal space do you?”

“Ah, ironic coming from someone who tattoos other people for a living.”

It’s a good point, but what Levi does is nothing compared to how Erwin manages to just  _impose_  himself on others.

“That’s entirely different.”

“I thought of handing you my business card, but that would be too formal.”

Levi thinks of what a turn off that’d be.

“So how was your day at work?” Erwin asks.

“I didn’t work. I get Mondays and Tuesdays off.”

“Oh that’s right. It must be wonderful having the first days of the week off.”

Levi shrugs before remember Erwin can’t see him.

“It just means that Wednesday’s my first day.”

“Well, at least you get to have a good laugh at everyone complaining about work on a Sunday night.”

They talk about nothing in particular for a few minutes, but Levi can tell Erwin’s starting to doze from the way the pauses between replies are stretching out and the number of times Erwin asks Levi to repeat himself.

“Hey, sorry, I forgot you had work tomorrow.”

“That’s alright, we had a good conversation.”

“Hm.”

“Are you free this weekend?”

Levi’s toes curl unconsciously and he presses the phone closer to his face. “Maybe.”

“Alright, I’ll text you sometime later. Let me know then.”

Levi feels his heart racing and tries to remember the last time he’s heard his pulse so clearly. “Good night then,” Erwin says. Levi hums in agreement and waits for the beep from Erwin hanging up.

Levi spends a long time staring at the screen. 12 minutes 38 seconds. Levi honestly can’t remember anything they talked about specifically but he gets a good feeling from it all the same. He isn’t anything special, Levi insists, even if wants to believe that someone finally wants him.

\----

Erwin’s sure he’s to blame for some part of this, but it’s hard to resist when Levi’s hot and heavy against his side, mumbling around his shoulder. The grin he throws up at Erwin is feral and unadulterated.

“Slow down, you’re going to knock yourself out.”

Levi sends a puff of air up, blowing his bangs askew. “’m doing fine.”

Erwin swirls his whiskey on the rocks. Levi’d told him it was an old man drink, to which Erwin readily agreed, even if it was Levi who’d finished most of Erwin’s shots.

It’s easy to see how attractive Levi is, more so when he is uninhibited like this, all sinuous movements and strength pressed against Erwin’s side. Everything is hazy enough that Erwin doesn’t mind Levi sliding a hand along Erwin’s thigh, resting on his knee, or the way Levi uncrosses and crosses his leg, looking up through dark lashes.

When Levi reaches over to toss back the rest of Erwin’s drink, it’s easy for him to swing an arm around Levi’s shoulder, pulling him close and pressing his lips to Levi’s cheek.

“Hey, you wanna get out of here?”

Levi doesn’t spare him a glance, just shrugs his arm off and pushes himself off the barstool, even if he’s a bit unsteady. Erwin pulls him close again when they’re waiting for the cab, pressing his lips into Levi’s hair, hand placed a bit too low on his waist to be considered proper.

“You reek, old man,” Levi slurs, pushing his face away while pressing himself closer to Erwin’s warmth at the same time.

“So do you,” Erwin tosses back, before pulling Levi towards a cab. He doesn’t expect Levi to plant himself on his lap, or for the kiss that follows as soon as Erwin gives the driver his address. Levi doesn’t kiss the way Erwin likes, too much teeth and aggression, but it feels great with the tingle of warmth from the alcohol. Levi’s tugging on the back of Erwin’s hair and Erwin slides one hand under Levi’s shirt, tracing the hard muscles on either side of his spine.

“I can’t wait to see all your tattoos,” Erwin murmurs before kissing back hard. Levi practically purrs into the embrace, wiggling in Erwin’s lap. Some part of Erwin’s mind tells him to hold off until they get back, but when Levi grabs the hand under his shirt and slides it onto his ass, Erwin’s brain effectively shuts off. He slides his hand into Levi’s back pocket, squeezing, and Levi lets out a moan of appreciation.

Levi looks absolutely wrecked when they manage to stumble into Erwin’s apartment, and Erwin barely has time to flick on the lights before Levi’s got him pressed against the door. Standing, the height difference is much more palpable.

He doesn’t want to admit it, but it’s a bit of a turn on to see Levi straining on tip toes, lips latching onto his neck.

The next moment Erwin finds himself shoved back into his couch, Levi grinning down at him.

“You’re surprisingly aggressive,” Erwin murmurs, returning the grin.

Levi frowns. “That a problem?”

Erwin reaches up to brush the shorter hairs at the nape of Levi’s neck. “No, not at all.”

He’s not sure what happens, maybe Levi was trying to tug his own shirt off, but the next minute Levi’s toppled on top of him, sharp chin digging into Erwin’s chest. Levi’s a lot heavier than he seems and it knocks the wind out of Erwin for a good few moments while Levi fumbles to get them untangled. He manages to knee Erwin in the ribs a few times before he eases himself back, gripping the back of the couch for support.

It’s then that Erwin notices just how drunk Levi is, how the flush of arousal may very well have been Levi one drink away from passing out. When Levi starts pawing at Erwin’s belt, he grips his wrists hard, pulling him off.

Levi shoots him an accusatory look. “The fuck?”

Levi rips his hands out of the grip, nearly stumbling off the couch in the process before Erwin catches him by the arm. Shit, he really hates himself for even bringing Levi back, even if he’d been knocking back shots like a champion.

Erwin pushes himself up into sitting position. “Hey, you’re drunk.”

Levi glares. “No shit.”

“No, I mean.” Erwin fumbles uselessly with his hands, wondering when he’d started being a decent person. “We’re not going to do this when you’re drunk. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

Levi looks incredulous. “The fuck? Don’ tell me you don’ wan’ this.” He shoves a hand between Erwin’s leg, pressing hard against the bulge and Erwin barely contains the yelp of surprise and arousal. Levi shoots him an I-knew-it look before Erwin pushes his hand away.

“Levi, stop.” Erwin’s on the verge of breaking, but he schools himself off the couch before Levi can make another move like that. “I’m going to grab some sheets for you. You can have the bed.”

He starts walking off, turning around to glance back at Levi. “Just stay there. I’ll be back.”

He walks to the bathroom, splashing water on his face and hating himself for it. Mostly for backing off when he probably wouldn’t have cared if it’d been anyone else he brought home from the bar.

When he comes back, Levi’s curled up on the couch and Erwin’s immensely relieved for a moment before he sees the vomit all over the side of his couch and across the floor. Strangely, Erwin isn’t even angry, just concerned, and carries Levi off onto his bed before getting to the clean up.

He wonders when he started caring.


	4. Chapter 4

Rating jumps to M at the third page break. You won’t miss any plot (lol what plot, this thing is straight up crack fluff) if you skip the more explicit parts.

\----

_It’s a rare break they have during their expedition, both standing on the same branch of the tree watching the sky fall to dusk. Levi wordlessly checks over the straps of Erwin’s gear, something he does more out of habit than necessity, and Erwin indulges him each time, letting him pull on the buckles and straighten each until until they are to Levi’s standards._

_“You’re being too reckless,” Levi says, tugging Erwin’s cape back into place._

_“I could say the same to you,” Erwin replies easily. “I saw that maneuver you pulled back there to coral that group of Titans.”_

_Levi scoffs. The rest of the legion is scattered among the trees, waiting for nightfall before proceeding the rest of the way to the base camp for the night. “Can’t stand those giant shitheads and their stupid faces.”_

_This is the only time during their expeditions that Erwin lets himself relax. Just the few minutes before nightfall, before the legion convenes at base camp, when it’s just Levi and Erwin, not the captain and commander. Levi itches to grab Erwin’s hand, to press himself against his side, but waits obediently until they return back within the walls._

Levi wakes up with a start when his entire leg starts buzzing. For a moment he can’t reconcile the white walls in front of his face with the forest and sunset.

He reaches to his side, expecting something solid and hitting only soft mattress and sheets.

He’s stunned by the soft light coming through the window in an otherwise sparse room. His leg is still buzzing and in a daze he reaches down and pats his pocket, pulling out his phone.

8:00 AM.

The nausea rushing up is in part due to the awful hangover, but mostly due to the fact that he realizes just who's bed he's in, and some parts of last night are coming back to him all too clear.

Shit. If those were the parts he remembered, he’s sure he doesn't want to find out what else happened.

He’s not sure if he’s relieved or not that Erwin’s not on the bed next to him.

He’s had these dreams for a few years now, mostly just blurs of green and the wings on the back of his cape, hooks and grapples flying and swords slicing monsters larger than life. He’s standing next to a man in some of his dreams, and those were the worst because he always woke up with an undefined longing.

The alarm starts again and he silences the buzzing, pushing himself up reluctantly. His shirt sticks to him in weird angles and his legs are stiff from sleeping in his tight jeans all night, and there’s nothing more he’d like to do than go home and shower.

Huh.

He runs his tongue over his teeth again and thinks yeah, at best he’s had a shot or a dozen too many and at worst, he’s not even sure he wants to know what happened. All the more reason to sneak out as fast as possible.

And he’s gotta a killer headache to boot.

Unfortunately, he’s not sure if he’d be able to walk to the door, much less sneak out of Erwin’s window, without setting off half the neighbors. It’s definitely been a while since he’s been so reckless (he thinks back to Hange, and that only intensifies his hangover).

Of course Erwin would be the type to have some sprawling apartment. For some reason Levi’d expected to open the bedroom door and walk right out, not to be met by some godforsaken sunlit corridor with more doors than Levi had in his entire one bedroom studio.

Erwin’s sleeping on the couch, shirtless, with his tattoo facing Levi, and Levi feels a pang of guilt at leaving like this. He decides it's alright if he just gets a little closer to see how the tattoo’s healing. It’s been roughly two weeks, and Levi thinks it strange that it’s  _only_  been two weeks when he’s seen this man for years in his dreams.

It only makes it worse that Erwin doesn’t seem to recall anyone.

Levi resists the urge to run his fingers along the tattoo. He has a possessive streak and he can’t deny that looking at it, at his mark in the most literal sense, on Erwin doesn’t do anything for him.

Just before Levi manages to walk to the door, Erwin shifts on the couch and as much as Levi thinks of just bolting away, he freezes and turns around. It’s a false alarm, he prays, but when he looks Erwin’s leaning up on his elbows and squinting in Levi’s direction.

There’s an extended silence, Levi too close to the door to make it seem casual, and Erwin shirtless and disoriented.

“Hey,” Erwin offers, pushing himself the rest of the way up. The blanket pools into his lap and Levi doesn’t bother hiding the way he practically ogles his chest. 

“Sorry,” Levi responds for lack of anything better to say. He’s hoping that Erwin will be angry and kick him out, but Erwin seems like he’s going to disappoint.

“How are you feeling?” Erwin asks, smiling vaguely. Levi shrugs.

“Fucking disgusting. Like something went and died in my throat. And then shat itself.” Erwin winces at the imagery but at least Levi’s honest.

“You can use my shower if you want,” he offers. “I’ve got a spare toothbrush somewhere.” Erwin's the type to sleep in just sweatpants, Levi notes. He swings his leg off the couch and gropes around the side table for his glasses. 

(It’s not fair that Erwin looks startlingly good with glasses)

“That’s fine,” Levi says, watching Erwin stretch with a few pops of his spine. “I have work today.”

“Oh, sorry I forgot the shop’s open on weekends too.” Erwin reaches down for his phone, frowning. “It’s barely after eight. Let me make you breakfast or something.”

“No.”

It comes out a lot harsher than he intended, but it’s a bit late to take it back. Erwin doesn’t seem surprised in any case. Levi thinks he probably wants him out of his apartment just as much as Levi wants to run out.

“That’s fine,” Erwin responds. “Just give me a few minutes to get a shirt on.”

Levi thinks about leaving through the front door and nothing stops him but the fact that he owes Erwin quite a lot at this moment. His memories of last night stop sometime around when they managed to get onto the couch and he’s hoping he didn’t do anything much more embarrassing.

Erwin walks out, running his fingers through his hair, still in the glasses that make him look infuriatingly good. “You sure you don’t want a bite? I can make some toast.”

Erwin’s probably used to having people sleepover enough that it doesn’t weird him out anymore, and that thought alone sends something cold and panicked sinking down Levi's stomach.

“I can go by myself,” he barely manages to push out, turning around to fumble with the locks on Erwin’s door. Of course he’d have like ten locks and Levi can’t figure out any of them until Erwin reaches over his shoulder and clicks them all open. Even the brief contact has Levi on edge and he dashes out before the door’s even fully open.

“Wait, Levi! The elevator’s down that way,” Erwin calls but Levi’s already walking fast down the hall, a bit too brisk to come off as normal. Unfortunately, Levi gets stopped by a dead end and has to march back to Erwin, who at least looks about as uncomfortable as Levi.

They walk in silence to the elevator, and the entire time down Levi stares up at the ceiling mirror, feeling incredibly sick in a way that is not classic hangover.

“Levi,” Erwin starts when the elevators open up. Levi’s consciously walking at a slower pace now, trying not to blow it again. “I’m sorry if I did something to upset you.”

Levi feels incredibly guilty and irrationally angry all over again because it isn’t so much what Erwin did as what he hasn’t done yet. He’s still waiting for Erwin to acknowledge last night, in any way at all, and him walking him out like it’s all normal is making Levi sick in too many ways.

He swerves around before they reach the front door. Erwin’s place is more posh than he’d ever step in again and already a doorman pulls the door open, though they’ve both stopped in their tracks and the door is just awkwardly opened.

“You didn’t do anything,” Levi replies, holding back the bile. “Look, I can get back to my place. You don’t need to walk me.”

With that he walks out. The doorman closes the door behind him and he’s immensely disappointed that Erwin doesn’t follow.

\----

“Good night boss!” Petra calls as she walks out the door. Levi waves in response before returning to tallying the receipts. Even he’ll admit he's a bit obsessive over the finances, preferring to count up all the sums at the end of each month rather than put it off until tax season.

He hears Petra let out a surprised sound and looks up to see Erwin walk in, a sheepish smile on his face.

Levi’s heartbeat jumps into his throat involuntarily, even if he’s good at maintaining his poker face.

“Sorry to intrude,” Erwin says, raising two coffee cups. “I got you a drink.”

Levi doesn’t trust himself not to say something snarky so he just nods. Erwin stands across from the counter awkwardly, sliding the drink over.

“It’s a chai latte,” Erwin offers. “Don’t look at me like that. You’ve probably only tasted the Starbucks version. This is really good, I promise!”

Levi’s not sure what look he was giving Erwin besides something bordering on disbelief. He’s not sure why Erwin was being so cordial after he just left his house without so much as a thank you. “Thanks,” he says and takes a sip. It is really good, but by now he’s learned to stop doubting Erwin’s tastes in things he wouldn’t have otherwise bought.

“It’s more of a fall drink, but the weather’s starting to get chilly lately,” Erwin offers, sipping at his own cup. It's unusually brisk for early September.

Levi nods, taking another sip. It’s still hot.

“I’m sure you didn’t come just to give me a drink,” Levi says finally. Erwin laughs a bit.

“Do you mind? I’ve got a bit to say.”

Levi is not exactly sure he wants to go back to the topic, but after almost a week following the incident and of resigning himself to the fact that he’d probably never see Erwin again, he’s going to take any interaction he can get with the man.

Levi pulls open the latch door to let Erwin behind the counter and grabs a stool from the staff room. Erwin sits down almost gingerly, and Levi thinks this is probably the first time he’s seen Erwin so tense. Part of it must have been his own sour attitude rubbing off on the other man.

“Sorry about last week,” Erwin starts. “I should have taken you back to your place.”

Levi bristles. “I’m an adult Erwin, and in case you’ve forgotten, I wasn’t exactly reluctant in the whole plan.”

Erwin backs down a bit. “Sorry, I don’t -”

“The more you say sorry the less sincere it sounds,” Levi spats. Erwin offers a small smile. Levi starts to regret his words because, despite all the flattery and veiled phrases Erwin has thrown at him, most of what he says is deeply sincere.

“I just don’t want you to get the wrong impression of me.”

“Which is?”

Erwin drums his fingers along the glass and Levi has half a mind to tell him to stop because really, he just wiped those clear of fingerprints a few minutes ago.

“I think you’ve got an inflated perception of me,” Erwin begins. “I’m not this successful, collected person.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Levi says. At least it catches Erwin off guard. “Is this what you tell everyone in the morning so they go home thinking it not their fault or some shit?”

Even if Levi’s not good at seeing the next step in ways that people who planned out their future do, he’s good at reading people and he knows he’s got Erwin spot on when the other man leans away.

“So why the fuck are you telling me?” Levi hisses again. He’s telling himself to calm down because he’s not sure what he’ll do if Erwin walks out again, but he can’t stand Erwin’s forced aloofness. It gives him a great deal of satisfaction to finally get under Erwin’s skin in a situation that Erwin forced himself into.

Erwin takes a slow sip of the drink and Levi tries to calm himself down. “Because I think you like me a lot more than I'd initially thought.”

Levi makes a strangled sort of noise in the back of his throat.

“You  _think_ _?”_  he snarls. "What gave you that impression?" He regrets the words the instant they come out, especially when Erwin sends him a look like it's obvious.

“Fuck, whatever, that’s not the point in any case.”

Erwin taps his foot once against the floor. He's still waiting for Levi to say more, even if it's so obvious, and that only adds to Levi's agitation. 

Levi finally decides to bite the bullet. "So what about me? What do you think?" 

Erwin stares toward the door for a few moments. “I’m not going to pretend like I’m considering this for the first time,” he says slowly, locking eyes with Levi. “So yes, I like you more than I'd initially thought as well.”

Levi swallows hard. For some reason, he’s still not satisfied.  “So what now,” Levi says. “That can mean a lot of things coming from different people.”

Levi drums his fingers along the cup’s lid, wondering when he’d picked up Erwin’s habit. Erwin’s eyes remain on him, even if his own are now fixed on the floor. Erwin’s dress shoes look posh against Levi’s Doc Martens, and for not the first time, he thinks that even if Erwin wants him this isn’t going to work.

“I can’t really give you a quantitative value of what it means,” Erwin finally replies. “I’m not exactly good with relationships. Beyond anything lasting more than a few days.”

Levi wants to point out that this is technically the third week they’ve known each other, but that seems a little petty.

"So you came here with no clue what you want to do," Levi finishes for him. He wants to say it before Erwin sweeps him up in his fanciful words and gives him a false sense of hope that he meant anything.

"More like I don't know what  _you_ mean," Erwin counters, shooting Levi a hard look before Levi can interrupt. "After you practically stormed off that morning, I wasn't sure what to think."

Levi purses his lips, refusing to just drop the subject, even if he feels immensely guilty, because what Erwin's said still didn't answer his question. "Sorry. For that entire night. And the next morning." Levi figures he owes him at least that much. "Look, I don't really remember much of what happened after we got to your place."

Erwin raises one eyebrow, swiveling around to face Levi completely. "Really?"

Levi looks at Erwin suspiciously. "Why? Is there something I should remember?"

"No," Erwin replies smoothly. "You passed out almost right after we got onto the couch."

"I mean, I remember the uh... pushing you onto the couch." Levi uncrosses and recrosses his legs uncomfortably. He's not terrible with words, but he's always been better with action and this isn't a conversation he's had to have many times before. 

Erwin has the audacity to chuckle and when Levi glares at him he shrugs. "That's basically it. We didn't do anything."

"Oh," Levi breaths out before he can stop himself. He's gone over the scenario multiple times in his head, re-envisioning something (worse) different every time. "We didn't do anything?"

"Is your opinion of me so low that you'd think I'd do something while you were intoxicated?" Erwin asks, smiling slowly. Levi kicks at Erwin's stool, mostly to burn off nervous energy. 

"What was I supposed to think? You could have fucking said something."

"If you hadn't stormed off so quickly, I would have explained."

"Are you still sore over that shit?"

"I was looking forward to breakfast with you."

Levi's so caught off guard that whatever retort he has planned dies in his throat. "What?"

"I was hoping you'd stay for breakfast at least," Erwin repeats lightly. 

"Bullshit," Levi huffs. 

Erwin shrugs. "It's alright if you don't believe me." 

Levi glares at Erwin for a few moments but the other says nothing. He feels like he's being manipulated but it's too subtle for him to pick up on the hints. "Fine, so going back to the original question. What now?"

"We could pretend like we'd never met and go our separate ways."

Levi jerks his head up so hard he feels his vision blur for a moment. "The fuck?"

Erwin still has that placating smile on his face and it makes Levi want to slug him. "Maybe we weren't meant to be in this universe."

Something about the phrasing makes Levi's head spin dizzily, but he still has no idea what Erwin is saying.

"Maybe I don't deserve you in this lifetime," Erwin says. "I don't think you know what kind of person I am. I'm not the -"

"Fucking hell I don't!" Levi snaps, "And you don't know who I am either, so don't preach that."

Erwin looks pained. "Levi, I'm trying to be a decent person for once."

"So decent in your book is barging into someone's life and telling them you have the hots for them, but you're going to walk out with your tail between your legs cause of a hunch?" Levi's nearly breathless by now, blown by the intensity of his words and the way Erwin stares at him at him like he wants to touch him, but is afraid to make a move. 

"Decent is walking out even if I want to stay," Erwin breathes. 

"So stay!" Levi says, leaping out of his chair. Even when Levi's standing, Erwin comes up to around his chest so it doesn't give him much of a vantage point to peer down from.

Erwin looks torn. Later, Levi realizes it's the first time he's seen such an unplanned reaction on Erwin's face, but for now it only makes him angrier. " _Erwin_."

Erwin looks at him ruefully. "You know I've wanted you for a while. On a purely physical basis."

Levi think it's unfair for Erwin to throw out these broad statements so callously. "On a purely physical basis," he repeats.

Erwin nods in agreement. "But I think you are genuine and unapologetic in a way that people I work with could never achieve." He motions around the shop. "It's not just me. Everyone around you truly respects and adores you."

There's an extended silence, Levi still standing above Erwin with arms crossed, unable to make eye contact. 

"That's why you walked out huh," Levi says. Erwin looks up, one brow raised in question. 

"If you mean that first night, then yes," Erwin replies. HIs fingers are still strumming along the edge of the seat.

"Erwin," Levi says, softer, waiting until Erwin meets his eyes. "If you want to touch me, go ahead."

Erwin's fingers still before he shakes his head. "Levi, I can't."

"Touch me."

Despite everything, when Erwin places one hand on the back of Levi's knee it's sure and steady, the other one stopping a bit higher mid thigh. Levi closes his eyes, lets himself be pulled forward a step until he's standing between Erwin's legs. 

When he opens his eyes, Erwin's staring up at him, hands glancing lightly up his legs to rest on either side of his waist. 

"Do you want me?" Levi asks again, even though the way Erwin wraps his fingers around Levi is answer enough. For a split second it feels so familiar. 

"I want you," Erwin breathes back. 

"Good. I need to be wanted desperately."

Erwin's grip tightens momentarily. "You're someone anyone would want desperately."

Levi feels Erwin crane up into the kiss, pulling him even closer while Levi has his fingers wound through Erwin's hair, kissing back desperately. 

Eventually Levi pulls away, breathless. "Hey, we made out in the cab ride right?" he breathes, an inch from Erwin's lips. He watches them curve into a smile. 

"Yes we did, don't tell me you forgot that part."

"No, no," he says, shaking his head, his bangs falling onto Erwin's face. "This was a lot better." 

Levi slides himself into Erwin's lap, or at least tries to. It's probably a combination of Erwin already sitting on the edge of the seat and Levi not really looking at where he's going but he finds himself on the ground a second later, head smacking back into his own stool. 

Erwin looks worried for a moment before breaking into a loud laugh. Levi glares up and Erwin stands and reaches down to offer him a hand, still chuckling. 

"Sorry, sorry," he says, hauling Levi back to his feet. "Good thing you don't remember that night."

Levi freezes. "What? What did I do?"

Erwin shakes his head, thinking back to Levi crashing right down onto him on the couch (probably trying to pull off what he thought was a really sexy maneuver). "Nevermind."

Levi scowls back at him, having to look up again now that they're both standing. His mood only darkens when he stares down and sees the unfinished calculations and forms. For a split second he thinks of sweeping it to the side and hauling Erwin back to his place. 

Unfortunately Erwin follows his line of sight and pauses. "If you wan't to finish those..."

Levi really doesn't want to think about work but now that it's on his mind, and after the mood-killer of a fall, if he leaves now it'll bother him for the night. 

"Yea, I do," he says. "It's okay if you want to leave. We could," he waves his hand vaguely, "some other night."

"I can wait," Erwin says. "If you still want to."

Levi thinks they're acting like a bunch of middle school children. 

"It's going to take me at least another hour to finish up."

"That's fine. Have you eaten yet? I can bring some food back."

It's one thing to grab a few drinks, a whole other to hook up in a cab, and something entirely different waiting for each other and buying each other dinner. Levi agrees nonetheless, though he sits there just spinning his pen for a good ten minutes until his heart rate is back to normal.

\----

They make it back to Levi's place, acting for once more like mature adults than trigger-happy teenagers. Erwin throws his suit jacket onto Levi's chair and before he can protest Erwin pushes him down onto the bed. Levi thinks how dirty this all is but his brain short circuits when Erwin cups one hand around Levi's obvious erection and squeezes lightly. 

"Anything you're not okay with?" Erwin asks, lips marking a desperate trail down his neck. It's rare for Levi to feel like he can't keep up with something and it makes him dizzy with arousal. 

"N-nothing I can think of," he breathes, sliding a hand under Erwin's shirt and tugging it up. He regrets not remembering this - the hard muscles of Erwin's abs, the taut way it stretched over his ribs - when he got himself off the other night just thinking of his body held down by Erwin's.

Erwin immediately goes back to getting Levi's belt unbuckled and his pants unzipped once he tosses shirt over his head. 

"Fuck, you're eager," Levi breathes, arching up so Erwin can get his jeans off, for once regretting the tight denim. 

"Want me to slow down?" Erwin asks, hands on either side of Levi's hips, itching to touch but willing to stay still. Levi grabs them and places them back on, feeling Erwin's fingers dig into his hip bone. 

"No,  _ah_  keep going."

Erwin sends him a sheepish grin, "I'm usually more patient, but I can't help it around you." He nips at Levi's hipbone, ignoring his erection, and Levi can't help but thrust up futilely into the air. "You're incredibly sexy," he breathes. 

Levi doesn't usually like talkative partners but it's different in Erwin's smooth baritone and the unabashed way Erwin looks at him. 

"Why don't you go ahead and see how sexy all of me is?" Levi asks. It's a lame line but Erwin obliges, pulling off his briefs. Levi spreads his legs and watches Erwin eye him hungrily, his abs defined with each shaky breath he takes. 

"Fuck," he curses, and Levi has a hard time not coming undone just listening to Erwin and watching him stare. "I bet you can take a lot. You ready for this?" Erwin slides himself up to press himself against Levi. Even through the trousers Levi can tell just how big Erwin is. "I'm not even fully hard yet," he murmurs, sucking on Levi's earlobes and Levi practically mewls at the way Erwin's still rubbing himself slowly against Levi's leg. 

"Just put it in," he pleads, reaching down and fumbling with the button on Erwin's pants and getting no where. Erwin swats his hand away but has a hard enough time focusing, especially when Levi turns over onto his stomach, displaying his ass for Erwin. 

He arches back just slightly, enough that it doesn't look like he's showing off, when he digs through the drawers on his nightstand. Erwin immediately has his hands on his ass, squeezing and pulling his cheeks apart. Levi doesn't expect the kiss at the base of his spine or the way Erwin goes lower, sucking and laving at his skin. Levi shudders hard and tries to pull away, protesting.

"Sorry, too much?" Erwin says. Levi shakes his head frantically.

"No, but I can't take it now," he breathes. "I'm going to make a mess of myself before we do anything." Erwin laughs and gives Levi's ass a last slap before he pulls his hands away. Levi gives his own cock a stroke, trying to ride out the wave of desperation that wants Erwin to eat his ass out and get him off, even if it ruins him for the night. 

"Fucking  _hell_ ," Levi curses when he comes up empty handed after digging through all three drawers. He turns to tell Erwin the bad news but freezes when he sees Erwin naked, kneeling and stroking his cock slowly, eyes still on Levi's ass. Levi swallows hard, throat suddenly dry just watching Erwin work himself. 

"What's wrong?" Erwin finally asks. 

Levi's reluctant to tell him. "I'm out of condoms." 

Erwin looks at him quizzically and Levi expects him to protest but he doesn't. "Having too much fun lately?"

Levi makes a face. "More like having no fun. It's been a while since I've needed one."

He likes the flare of possessiveness in Erwin's eyes before he grabs him, kissing him hard. "Good. That's fine, I can get you off without my dick."

Levi expects his hand, not his mouth, though judging from the way Erwin was licking along his ass he definitely has few inhibitions. Levi bends almost double from just the sensation of Erwin closing his lips around the tip and squeezing. Erwin's chuckle only intensifies the pleasure. 

For once, Levi doesn't hold back his moans, even if Erwin doesn't need any more encouragement to swallow him down further until his nose touches the hair trailing down to his cock. "You're  _hnn_  such a  _s-slut_ ," Levi hisses, grabbing Erwin's hair and pulling him off. He wants to last longer, if only to watch the way Erwin's back muscles bunched around the tattoo every time he bent his neck at a different angle or moved his hand to massage Levi's balls. Erwin refuses, swallowing hard around him and Levi comes unexpectedly when Erwin glances up, unshed tears building in his eyes. 

Levi flops back, completely spent, the ceiling spinning from the way he's so out of breath from moaning so loud. 

"Let me return the favor," he offers finally, reaching out where he thinks Erwin is. 

"That's fine," Erwin's voice comes, a foot below where Levi thought he was. "That was really hot. I'm close from just listening to you."

Well fuck, if Erwin wanted to get him hard again, this was exactly how. 

"Do whatever you want with me," Levi says, splaying his arms out. "I don't care, bend me however you'd like."

Erwin reaches for one of his hands, interlocking their fingers for a brief moment before he places it over his cock. "Go on," he hums when Levi gives an experimental squeeze. 

"You're massive," Levi says, almost involuntarily. Erwin crawls over, covering Levi's body with his own. 

"Take off your shirt," Erwin says, and Levi acts on the command without thinking, letting go of his cock for a brief moment to toss the shirt over his head. Erwin's eyes follow the path Levi's tattoos take up one arm and across his chest.  _"Goddamn_  you're gorgeous."

There was a time when he'd kill to hear someone find all these opportunities to call him  _sexy,_ to tell him he's  _beautiful_ , but even now Levi can't help but preen a little from the attention. 

"You like them?" he asks, stretching out an arm and kneading his hand into Erwin's shoulder, his other hand still working Erwin's cock aggressively. 

Erwin's answer is in the harsh bite he places on Levi's collarbone, hips thrusting in time to Levi's strokes. Levi's fingers barely manage close around the base of Erwin's cock, and he can only imagine how it'd feel to have that thing in him.

"You're going to rip me open before you even get halfway in," Levi breathes. He hears Erwin whine involuntarily, the biting and sucking increasing in intensity. "Fuck, I could never fill myself up that well with just my fingers. You're like four fingers at least. Maybe my entire fist."

Erwin looks up, nearly teetering over the edge. "I'd ruin you. You want that babe?"

"Yea, I want you to ruin me," Levi answers as Erwin comes undone.


	5. Chapter 5

(does anyone still think i write this anymore???)

\----

Levi realizes he has to rethink his initial assessment of Erwin when the other flips him over promptly, kissing him, paying particular attention to the tattoo on the side of his neck.

"How the fuck are you ready to go again?" Levi hisses, trying to shrug Erwin off, but the other just kisses languidly down his back.

"It's just with you," Erwin tosses off-handedly and Levi tries to not to let that statement affect him. Erwin's sucking on a spot low on his hips, his hands running down Levi's inner thighs, spreading them apart. Erwin brings one hand up, sliding his thumb between his ass cheeks, nudging his entrance with the barest touch before pulling it away. Any other night, Levi would have begged to be fucked ten times over by this point.

Erwin kisses every part of him with the same intensity he kisses his lips and Levi finds himself collapsing when Erwin plants his mouth on his entrance. He muffles his cries into the pillow. Erwin leans forward, licking as far as he can towards Levi's balls, before coming back and nipping around the area before plunging back in. 

"You don't find that dirty?" Levi pants. 

Erwin pulls back just barely, breath warm on the wet skin around the area. "Not generally, and you're pretty clean everywhere." 

Levi leans further down on his elbows, exposing more of himself to Erwin. "Most guys don't like doing this."

Erwin hums in agreement and Levi swears he feels the sensation travel up his spine. "I've been told I've got something of an oral fixation."

Levi laughs even as he pushes back further. "You would never think looking at you."

Erwin pulls back, letting Levi catch his breath. "How so?"

The pounding of his heart drowns out his thoughts for a moment when Erwin comes up to drape himself over Levi, one hand still caressing his ass, the other keeping Levi's hips pressed against Erwin's. Levi takes one shuddering breath. "You look like you have stick up your ass and then you come and get this rad tattoo and suck dick like a pro."

Erwin laughs at that, warm against the nape of Levi's neck. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"The last part is," Levi says, pushing back against Erwin until he feels the other's cock press into the back of his thigh. 

Erwin pulls back and Levi squirms against the loss of contact for a moment until he feels Erwin spread his legs wider. "Wait, shit don't-"

"I'm not," Erwin breathes and Levi turns around to see Erwin holding his cock in one hand, focused on the dip of Levi's back before glancing up to meet Levi's eyes. The look in his eyes does more than the way Erwin drags his cock between Levi's cheeks, the head of it catching on Levi's entrance for one breathtaking second before Erwin leans forward again, nudging his cock between Levi's thighs. 

"Close your legs," Erwin orders the same time he places his legs on either sides of Levi's, forcing them closer. Erwin couldn't have been much more than half hard and yet he's a solid, pulsing force when he starts thrusting experimentally between Levi's thighs. Erwin's got him trapped, draped over his back and legs on either side of his body, one hand on his hip to hold him up, the other braced against the pillow. The contact makes Levi all the harder. 

Levi reaches under him to grip Erwin's cock, pushing it up against his own. He tries to squeeze tighter but loses his grip several times from the way he's shuddering and the relentless way Erwin thrusts up into him. 

It doesn't take long for either of them to come again, Levi spurred by Erwin's slurred mumbles against his ear and Erwin by the way Levi trembles and collapses into the pillow towards the end so that it's just Erwin holding his hips up with both hands, thrusting between his legs. 

When Levi comes to, Erwin's nibbling on his shoulder.

Levi raises his head, running a hand through the bangs sticking to his forehead. "I need a shower," he says, blinking slowly. Unfortunately, Erwin pushes himself into a better position on the bed and drapes an arm across Levi's waist.

"Later," he says. The position hits Levi with a sudden and unexpected sense of nostalgia. 

"Doesn't this feel familiar?" Levi ventures, turning to look at Erwin. 

"What do you mean?" Erwin returns. He's tracing a pattern across Levi's collarbones. 

 _Like we've done this before_ , Levi wants to say but it seems too impossible so he stops. "Dunno." He pauses, afraid to go on. "Have you ever had a dream with someone you know?"

Erwin nods. "Isn't everyone in our dreams someone we've met in real life?"

Levi presses down that helpless feeling. "No, like you see someone in a dream that you haven't met yet?"

Erwin's giving him a strange look so Levi pulls back, pushing himself up to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'm gonna shower."

"Hey, is something-"

"No, it's nothing," Levi counters, annoyed at himself for being annoyed at nothing in particular. He's the one that's going crazy with the dreams, not Erwin. 

He hears a phone buzz from the tangle of clothes on the floor and reaches for the pocket before realizing it doesn't belong to him. Levi fishes out the phone and tosses it over to Erwin, fighting an irrational bout of jealousy and the urge to check the name of the caller.

Erwin picks up the call smoothly after glancing at the display name and sits up in bed. Levi walks around so that he's sitting next to Erwin, thighs touching. 

"Mike, what's going on?" Well, at least Mike doesn't sound sexy, nothing like Erwin's type. Then again, Levi doesn't sound like Erwin's type either. 

There's something muffled on the other side. Levi watches while Erwin's grip on the phone tightens and his face lights up. (he definitely feels a flare of jealousy at that, even if he denies it) 

"How'd you manage to get that from the detective? Don't answer that, the less I know the better." There's a few more exchanges and Levi has to resist the urge to press himself against Erwin, that initial spark of envy only getting worse the more he watches Erwin ignore him. Levi has to reach over and place a hand on Erwin's knee. 

Erwin glances down and almost has a guilty look on his face. "Mike, this is great news, but I'm not exactly at home right now." There's a few more exchanges, but Levi already knows what's being said from the way Erwin's gaze shifts downwards. "You're right, we can't miss this opportunity. I'll scan the documents I have and send them over."

Levi tries not to be angry but there's no helping it when Erwin turns and gives him that couldn't-be-helped look. "Sorry Levi, my coworker called and-"

"The fuck, it's almost midnight."

At least Erwin looks guilty when he takes Levi's hand in his. "Mike managed to obtain a very important piece of evidence for his case and he just needs to see if it matches with an earlier report."

Levi doesn't want to admit but suddenly he realizes he has no idea what Erwin even did for a living. "I thought you did some corporate shit." Levi pulls his hand out of Erwin's grasp. 

"Not exactly. I rub shoulders with the corporate crowd, but I'm an attorney. Criminal defense," Erwin offers. "Look, I'm -"

"Don't say sorry," Levi sneers. "It's okay. You promised him, so go ahead."

"Levi, wait." At least Erwin knows better than to touch him. "I really meant that. I'll stay if you want me to."

"You obviously need to go, so just go ahead," Levi says, turning around. It's only after a few tense moments that Levi can bring himself to meet Erwin's eyes. "Like I said, it's alright. I get it. I'm probably blowing things out of proportion."

Erwin brings a hand up slowly enough that Levi could dodge if he wanted to, but he stays still, letting Erwin cup the back of his head and press a kiss to his forehead. 

"I'll make it up to you tomorrow. You can sleep over my place tomorrow night," Erwin says. "If you want to," he adds.

Levi feels himself uncoiling and even though it still feels like a loss, there's not much he can do at this point. "Okay. You better make it up to me."

He watches Erwin dress and sees him to the door, feeling as if something is distinctly missing.

\----

Levi doesn't expect Erwin to be there when he finishes sanitizing everything, sitting behind the counter and chatting up Eld and Gunter. Fridays are Petra and Oluo's nights off and it's usually quiet in the shop. Eld's leaning against the counter, laughing at something Erwin's said, while even the usually taciturn Gunter is ready with his own reply. 

"Oh, Levi!" Erwin calls out and his employees immediately turn, Erd rushing to straighten himself. 

Levi ignores him, not willing to let him off the hook so easily, and turns to Eld and Gunter, leaving Erwin in the chair while they cleaned up the front area and counted the receipts. It's only after Eld and Gunter are sent home that Levi turns to Erwin. 

"How was your day?" Erwin asks, reaching for Levi's hand even before the door completely closes. As much as Levi tries, he finds himself a lot less angry than he'd expected, especially when Erwin looks so sincere. 

"Fine, what about yours?" 

"I think I've got a new angle to approach my argument with," Erwin says smiling. He stands when Levi pulls him towards the door. 

"The case that you were working on?"

"One of about half a dozen. This one's a really interesting one," Erwin says. "Remind me to tell you about it another time."

Levi nods. "So you go to court and everything?"

Erwin makes a sound of agreement. "Nothing like what you see on TV shows though. A lot of it is who can talk the fastest and cite the most inane legislation."

"Sounds awful."

"Sometimes, but it's alright when you work for your own firm and get to choose the clients you represent."

"I bet you have a fucked up sense of justice to boot."

"I bet you're pretty cynical."

"No shit Sherlock." But it gets Levi to lower his defenses all the same and he walks a bit closer. "So what's the plan for tonight?"

"We could go back to my place and pick up some food on the way." 

"Gross, I hate the food you eat."

"Pretty sure you ate what I got last night."

"Pretty sure  _you_  ate what  _I_ got last night," Levi replies, and they both laugh harder than any mature adult should. 

"Fine, fine, I get it," Erwin says, still chuckling. "If you want to cook, we've got to stop by a grocery store on the way. I don't think I have anything in the fridge."

When they get through the door to Erwin's apartment, Levi doesn't even have the opportunity to put the milk or eggs away (turns out he insisted on fixing the very sad state of Erwin's fridge) before Erwin's pushing him towards the bedroom. They only manage to take off their shoes because Levi won't budge from the doormat otherwise.

This time, Levi gets what he wants and showers afterwards while Erwin puts the sheets in the laundry. Even if he hates how unnecessarily spacious Erwin's apartment is, he appreciates the water pressure and the different heat settings and the expensive soap Erwin uses. It's not until Erwin knocks that he realizes he's been in there for longer than what's probably acceptable. 

"... Did you try out every single one of my body washes?" Erwin asks, leaning in to sniff Levi's hair. Levi's in a pair of borrowed sweats and one of Erwin's tank tops, which hang off his frame.

"And all your shampoos," Levi admits, unashamed. He still doesn't know why Erwin has so many, but it's probably part of being posh. "Go shower already, you stink."

Levi has dinner half-way cooked by the time Erwin emerges. It's something simple, a quick stew to go with the bread they bought. 

"Hey Erwin, wanna chop up some tomatoes for the salad?"

Erwin agrees, laughing. "I can't believe you're forcing me off my regular diet and ordering me around at the same time."

"You're welcome. Your shitty diet needs to change anyways."

"I'm doing fine despite my subpar diet."

"Yea, you look too good for someone with a sit-on-his-ass job."

"Most of it's from my college days," Erwin says, flexing his biceps with no shame. "I still try to run every morning. There's a gym on the second floor of this building."

Levi raises a spoonful of stew to Erwin's lips for a taste. "You don't really have to, what with your looks," Levi says.

Erwin smiles a bit around the spoon. "Are you always this blunt?" Levi sends him an impassive look. "The soup's good. And can you imagine what I'd look like if I was some skinny, lanky kid? When you're this tall, no one takes you seriously unless you've got some muscle to go with it."

Levi supposes it's true on some level, but he still doesn't buy the explanation. Erwin chops up some more vegetables and tosses them together into a large bowl (to be honest, he's not sure where Levi managed to dig up all the pots and bowls). 

There's something quaint about sitting down to dinner, Levi can't help but feel self conscious watching Erwin swallow a spoonful of soup and nod approvingly.

"Where'd you learn to cook? This is really good," Erwin says. Levi breaks off a chunk of bread and stirs it into his soup. 

"I lived with a friend for a few years before she went to college. I learned a lot from her mom," he offers. Erwin gets the hint and doesn't ask anymore. Levi feels pretty bad being so secretive, especially now, so he offers something. 

"These were the last tattoos I got," he says, pointing to the pair of birds on his neck. Erwin looks at them admiringly and decides not to comment on how socially awkward Levi is. 

"Why birds?"

Levi shrugs. "I've got a thing for wings. I've got one on my left shoulder," he says, turning to show it to Erwin. 

"They're beautiful," Erwin says, and there's no judgment to what he says. "Did you design them yourself?"

Levi nods. "I was a pretty artsy kid when I was younger."

"You still are very talented."

Levi ignores that. "I wish I kept my sketchbooks. I would have shown you some stuff. I had some pretty sick designs."

"What was your first tattoo?"

Levi hesitates before pulling the tank lower. Only half of it is visible, but he points to the tattoo of the Virgin Mary on his chest. "There's a story behind this one," he offers, even if Erwin isn't the type to judge. From Erwin's view, he likely only sees the crown of her head and the halo. 

Erwin smiles placatingly. "I'd like to hear it, whenever you're ready to tell me."

Levi breaks off more chunks of bread, willing away the nervous energy. After a bit, he offers, "I don't tell anyone about my tattoos. After Hange, I haven't told anyone the full story." He doesn't remember telling any of his ex-boyfriends about much more than the two or three more interesting ones.

Erwin nods. "You talk about her a lot. I'd like to meet her some day."

Levi shrugs. "She's not around, but yea sure, when she gets back in town."

\----

A/N: I'll have the story of the Virgin Mary tattoo (you can see it on Niu's Levi) up as an aside when I post part 6 or 7.


	6. Chapter 5 Bonus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The much demanded butt scene

# 

When they get through the door of Erwin’s apartment, Levi doesn’t even have the opportunity to put the milk or eggs in the freezer (turns out he insisted on fixing the very sad state of Erwin’s fridge) before Erwin’s pushing him towards the bedroom. They barely manage to take off their shoes, and only because Levi won’t budge beyond the doormat otherwise.

"Erwin, the eggs -"

Erwin presses him against the hallway and kisses him until he’s incoherent. “You say the sexiest things,” he whispers, lifting Levi up onto his toes.

"Shut up, I’m serious."

"So am I."

Erwin kneads his hands into Levi’s ass and kisses him again until the subject’s out of his head. Levi’s the one who pushes them the rest of the way into the bedroom, though he stops dead in his tracks at the doorway.

After a tense moment, Erwin manages to ask, “Something wrong? Did you forget something?”

Levi positively shudders before he turns around and pushes Erwin back out. “No way.”

Erwin tries to hide how crestfallen - and confused - he is at the turn of events, and puts a hand on Levi’s waist. “What’s going on?”

Levi shoots him a look but doesn’t take Erwin’s hand off his waist. “I can’t believe you live in this pig sty.”

"What?"

Levi jerks his head back to Erwin’s room. Sure, the bed’s not made and has files strewn all over it, but it’s still respectable. “The bed’s fine Levi!”

Levi doesn’t budge so Erwin has to physically move him to the side while he bends down to pick up the files and place them on the desk. 

"You want me to make the bed too?"

Levi shrugs. “Never mind. I don’t think that’s the problem.”

Erwin’s a pretty patient person and thinks he can always wrangle victory out of defeat, but he doesn’t get the sudden 180 in the mood. “Levi, is something wrong?”

Levi purses his lips. “It’s just - never mind.”

"I mean it. If you don’t want to do this, we don’t have to. Just let me know."

Levi makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat before pushing off the wall and pressing a hand against Erwin’s chest. “I want this. Just not here. I- look I know it’s stupid, but can we not? On your bed?”

Levi looks so thoroughly uncomfortable that Erwin decides to not press the issue. “All right. I guess we can find another place.”

Levi’s hand stays on his chest, fingers absentmindedly digging in while he looks around the room. By now Erwin’s not sure if he’s even half hard. “Okay. What about the walls?”

His penis immediately rises back to the occasion.

"What?" He rethinks himself when he sees the scowl on Levi’s face. "I guess that’s fine, if you want."

Levi nods. “Yea. They look clean.”

Erwin tries to bring back the mood and bends down to kiss him, pulling Levi forward by his belt loop and palming him through his pants. He feels Levi exhale shakily into the kiss, gripping Erwin’s shirt, even if they’re both not as hard after the conversation.

Levi pulls a bit too hard at Erwin’s tie and Erwin chokes into the kiss, pulling away.

"It’s fine," he says before Levi has a chance to apologize. "Common mistake." That only seems to annoy Levi more, and he sets to unbuttoning Erwin’s shirt with more ferocity than necessarily while Erwin loosens his tie. Levi runs his hand up Erwin’s chest before carding his fingers in the short hairs on the nape of his neck.

Erwin presses a thigh against the front of Levi’s jeans and is gratified to find an unmistakable bulge there. Levi pushes Erwin’s shirt down his arms and starts to step away to fold it before Erwin pulls it out of his hand and throws it onto the bed. 

"Levi, that’s going in the washer. Forget it."

Levi still looks miffed but lets go of the shirt. “You better do my laundry too,” he says. 

"That’s fine."

Levi nods and pulls off his shirt, hesitating before tossing it onto the bed with a grimace. Erwin can’t help by trace the trail of tattoos up one arm and across his chest, fading off halfway down his right arm. 

"What if i wanted to do that?" Erwin says.

Levi snorts warmly. “You can do it every other time.” It sends sparks through his chest hearing Levi talk of  _next times_  because Erwin’s never given thought to seeing someone after the first time. 

Levi watches him carefully while he unbuckles his belt and shimmies out of his pants. It’s a show, Erwin thinks, when Levi sways his hips sensuously, bending down to pull his briefs and jeans off at once. Erwin pulls at his own buckle, briefly distracted when Levi rises and he can see the way his cock stands upright. 

Levi looks over and smirks. “Need some help there big boy?” 

He walks over and slides his fingers under the waist band of Erwin’s briefs, digs into his hipbone for a second before tugging them down. Erwin kicks his pants away. Levi leans up to nip sharply at the hollow of Erwin’s neck, moaning when Erwin shifts his hips and his cock rubs somewhere against Levi’s navel. 

"You’ve got condoms right?" Levi asks. 

"Yeah, I’ll go get them." When he turns back around with a packet, he finds Levi watching him, stroking his cock with one hand. 

"Do you know how good that tattoo looks on you?" he says, eyes on Erwin the entire he time walks back over. 

"Mm, I wonder why," Erwin answers, pressing the packet into Levi’s hand. Levi casts a sultry look up through his eyelashes, ripping the packet off (and going off to locate a trashcan in the room, though Erwin gets a good view of Levi’s ass on the way, so he doesn’t complain). Levi gives Erwin’s cock a few good strokes before slipping the condom on, licking his lips. 

"I should have sucked you off before I did that," Levi says. Erwin thrusts up unintentionally. 

"Next time," he promises, steering Levi towards the wall. He still can’t believe he’s doing this, but Levi seems pretty sure about it. "So how do you want to do this? Want me to pick you up?"

Levi sends him a dubious look. “I’m a lot heavier than you’d imagine.”

"What, doubting me now?"

"Just worried you’d drop me halfway through."

Erwin pretends to be offended. “Come here babe, let’s do this.” He’d intended it to come off sexy but it only sounds like some cheesy porn line, so before Levi can laugh he bends down to pick him up. 

Oh. So he was right.

Erwin stumbles against the wall, getting his fingers slammed beneath Levi and it’s a miracle they’re both standing. Levi’s breathing an inch from his face, pupils blown wide. Belatedly, Erwin realizes how hard Levi’s digging his fingers into this arm. 

"Shit," Levi says shakily. 

"Sorry," Erwin says, leaning in for a quick kiss to Levi’s cheek before he shifts him to get a better hold. "Can you loosen up a bit?" He feels Levi relax his death grip on his arms, though he still looks uncertain eyeing the distance to the floor. 

"A tailbone injury is a serious thing," he says. Erwin tries to laugh it off, but even he’s getting frustrated with Levi. Instead, he just gives his thigh a good squeeze, bending down for a kiss, which Levi indulges him in. 

"I won’t drop you. I just don’t know how to…" Erwin trails off, realizing he’s forgotten about lube. Levi realizes at the same time.

"Tell me you have something in there. No vaseline."

Erwin’s forced to put Levi back down, somewhat awkwardly (and somehow Erwin ends up having to duck down so Levi can swing one leg over his head to untangle themselves). Erwin prays to whatever based god there is that he has lube, even though he doesn’t remember using anything of the sort in months. Erwin manages to find a pack and holds it up.

Levi squints from where he’s remained by the wall. “What’s that?”

"KY Jelly. It’s a sample packet, probably from some conference." He doesn’t mention it reads "Sensual Silk" on the front. 

"You sure it hasn’t expired yet?"

Erwin turns it over to read the date and cringes. “Ah, well, it did expire last month. But -” he interjects before Levi can say anything “- expired things are safe to use too, and this month just started.”

Levi looks extremely conflicted, hands twitching where they are pressed against the wall. Levi shifts his weight to his other feet before sighing. “Let me see.”

Erwin feels a bit slighted at the lack of trust but tosses the lube over.

After turning the package over numerous times, Levi looks up, brows furrowed. “What do you think?”

Erwin pauses. “I think it’d be fine to use. Manufacture expiration dates always lean far on the safe side.”

Levi still seems conflicted but opens up the package and stares at the tube in his hand. “Okay. I’ll trust your judgement on this.”

It’s an entire different matter getting Levi prepped. Erwin tries to prep him standing, but he can’t reach low enough and stops to avoid embarrassing Levi further. For his part, Levi rolls with it and just grabs the tube out of his hand, squeezing out a generous portion onto his fingers. 

Erwin watches, fascinated and too turned on to focus when Levi reaches behind himself with one hand to spread his ass, shifting his legs wider, and presses a finger into his hole. Erwin almost wants to tell Levi to turn around so he could watch but seeing Levi’s mouth drop open wantonly and his eyes squeeze shut is as good a view. Erwin reaches forward to take Levi’s cock in his hand, giving it a few strokes, and Levi lets out a few desperate moans, resting his forehead in the juncture between Erwin’s neck and shoulder. Erwin feels each pant and shudder Levi lets out stretching himself, his hand firm and slow in stroking Levi’s cock. Erwin’s own cock remains neglected but he tells himself it’ll be worth it just from the way Levi’s preparing himself. 

At last Levi decides he’s ready and presses himself into the wall. Erwin’s not as confident as before, but Levi’s trust is all he really needs to bend down and pick him up. He hears Levi gasp and shift around before finding a comfortable position and Erwin presses a kiss to the side of his mouth, feeling Levi shudder in his grasp.

"Go on, just sit yourself on my cock," he whispers and Levi lets out a short moan. He feels Levi brace his feet against the wall, grabbing onto the Erwin’s shoulders to elevate himself. Erwin keeps his hands under Levi’s thighs, feeling them tremble from the exertion when Levi manages to get himself in position to lower himself down. Erwin slips and drops Levi when he feels Levi’s entrance pucker around him and Levi lets out a startled yelp when he gets pulled in too fast.

"Sorry," Erwin mutters, stroking his thumb back and forth along Levi’s thighs. Levi has all his fingernails dug painfully into Erwin’s back. 

"You’re fucking huge," Levi groans, rolling his hips once. "Fuck, it’s been a while."

Erwin waits while he rocks himself in place, getting used to the girth before he lowers Levi a bit more. At this angle, neither of them are in position to move much, but it’s fine from the way Levi squeezes around him, raising himself while Erwin thrusts into him. He’s still not used to how unexpectedly vocal Levi is, but the shamelessness turns him on more than he’d have thought. 

Erwin manages to wrap one hand under Levi, freeing the other one to stroke Levi’s cock until Levi’s swearing obscenities and biting under Erwin’s jaw.

Erwin doesn’t come from the way Levi keeps rocking himself down, trying to take Erwin even deeper, or the way he’s got a vice grip around Erwin’s arm. It’s when Levi looks at him through thick lashes and moans his name. Erwin slams Levi against the wall, thrusting into him brutally until Levi’s coming too. 

They’re both a mess when Erwin drops to the floor. It’s Levi who recovers first, running a finger along Erwin’s shoulder. In the aftermath, Levi’s touch feels like a spark of live wire.

"Shit, I can’t believe we just did that." Erwin chuckles before remembering they’re still connected. Even that bit of sensation is too much right now. 

"My arms are going to be dead tomorrow."

"So’s my ass."

"Eloquent."

Levi mumbles something about a shower but Erwin holds him down and kisses him.

Posted 14 hours ago

0 notes

  
[RSS](http://eightmin.tumblr.com/rss) | [Archive](http://eightmin.tumblr.com/archive) | Theme: [Optimus](http://www.tumblr.com/theme/6473)  


  



	7. Chapter 6

or "What's Wrong With You Levi"

\----

For the second time, Levi wakes up in a bed that feels strangely too big for just one person. It's too soft and the fabric smells different so when he cranes his neck up he's not surprised to see Erwin illuminated by the screenglow of his desktop. The clack clack of the keyboard is a constant pulse in the otherwise dark room.

Levi groans, dropping his head back onto the pillow. The noise gets Erwin's attention and he hears the creak of the desk chair.

"Levi?"

Levi ignores him and after a while the sounds resume from the keyboard. 

"Erwin," he croaks after a few minutes of dozing. "What time is it?"

There's a long pause and Levi wonders if he only imagined asking the question. He feels like he's been ripped prematurely from a dream and his mind spins when he thinks of even getting out of bed. 

"5:57."

Levi has to consider that for a moment.

"The fuck is wrong with you?"

There's silence for a long enough time that Levi's afraid Erwin's taken offense somehow. When he opens his eye Erwin's still focused intently on the screen and Levi thinks he is probably being toned out. It's an upsetting thought but he pushes down the disappointment and burrows deeper in the sheets. At least they smell like Erwin. 

When he opens his eyes again the room is flooded with dim gray light and Erwin is still sitting at the corner desk, the light from his desktop the brightest of all. 

This time when he pushes himself into a sitting position, his head's not spinning furiously. 

"Sorry. Did I wake you up?" Erwin mumbles from the screen, pausing only long enough to turn and look at Levi. When Levi makes no reply, he sighs and turns around, scrolling past an endless screen of text. 

"How long have you been up doing this?" Levi asks instead. He tries hard not to flop back over, feeling immensely tired like he hasn't slept for days. Part of it is how good Erwin's sheets smell -- and he remembers now with an almost guilty, but mostly tender, pang that he made Erwin wash the sheets and comforter last night before he'd even get into bed. 

Mostly it's how deeply he aches and how sore he feels even sitting up and shifting slowly to bring his legs to dangle over the side of the bed. Levi hadn't been lying when he said that it'd been a while, and he shudders with the first step he takes padding over to where Erwin's sitting.

It's not until Levi cards his fingers through Erwin's hair that the other jolts and looks up. Amazingly, Erwin seems immune to dark circles or maybe it's the glare reflected off of his lenses. Erwin doesn't protest when Levi reaches down to pry his glasses off his face. Levi only realizes how tired Erwin is when he keeps his eyes closed for a few seconds longer than necessary. 

"Take a break," Levi says, running fingers lightly down his neck and onto his shoulder, pressing the heel of his palm in. Erwin makes a noise of appreciation, rolling his head away to give Levi more access. He spots a darkening bruise just under his jaw and taps it lightly with a finger. "Better cover this up Mr. Professional."

Erwin laughs, bringing his own fingers up to feel the same spot. "That bad?"

"Mmhm."

"Hopefully it fades in a bit. I'm going to be in court in a week."

Levi leans down, keeping his hands lightly pressed on Erwin's shoulder. "Is this what you've been up reading? Seems like a bunch of bullshit."

"That's the basic premise." 

Erwin pushes Levi's hands off his shoulder before spinning around in the chair to face him. "What about you? Did you have a good night's rest?"

Levi snorts. "Is this the part where you ask if I'm okay after you fucked me with that bigass dick?"

Erwin looks almost embarrassed and that's obscenely cute considering the things they've done and just the fact that it's not Erwin and his plaster perfect smile. 

"Not in those words, but yes," he answers, tracing two fingers in a circle around Levi's hipbones. It's all too tempting for Erwin to lean up and kiss along the tattoos lining his collarbones. 

"Nice of you to ask the day after."

"Nice of you to ask me about my arms."

Levi goes back to kneading his shoulders and the tops of his arms, and Erwin drops them into his lap, tilting his head in a picture of relaxation. "What, feeling tired big boy?"

"Definitely. Good thing I have a sit on my ass job, as you'd like to put it."

Levi barks out a laugh. Erwin pulls him back towards him, murmuring, "I didn't think you'd be sore so soon."

"Who says I'm sore?" Levi huffs, pushing Erwin away when the other tries to bring his head down for a kiss. "Stop that, I have terrible morning breath."

Erwin kisses him anyways, close-mouthed. "Are you always in such a terrible mood in the morning?"

"Only when I don't expect to wake up alone." 

Levi realizes he's said it out loud when Erwin pulls away, tense. 

"Sorry, I didn't know you'd be bothered," Erwin says. Levi makes a strangled sound and steps away. He's not one for running away from conflict but he's almost  _afraid_  of ruining whatever they've started and doesn't trust himself to say anything.

"I'm not," Levi says, shrugging. "That was a joke." 

"Of course," Erwin replies, conciliatory. There's a few tense moments after Erwin's hand drops from him his waist, though Levi's reluctant to move even if he has nothing more to say.

"I'm going to wash up," Levi says after a while. "You should take a break." 

Erwin smiles at that. "Probably."

When Levi comes back, wearing his briefs from last night (after he made sure Erwin did the laundry), Erwin's still sitting at his desk, typing something furiously. Levi groans, placing his hand over Erwin's and pulling it off the mouse. 

"Levi," Erwin says, sighing, and Levi bristles at that tone, "Let me finish at least this section."

"You said you'd take a break."

"I said  _probably._ "

Erwin shoots him a look like he's trying to explain something very simple and Levi tries not to storm off, but it's hard when it's been a while since he's had to coexist with another person.

"Come on, your work can wait. You need to shave. You're disgusting."

"Levi," Erwin has the gall to sigh. "You really don't have a sense of priorities do you?" 

It's the tone, more than the words, that does it and Levi storms out. He pauses right outside the bedroom door, hit with a sudden sense of deja vu from just a week ago, the same sense of needing to get out of this place. 

Erwin comes out exactly seventeen minutes later (not that Levi's been eyeing the wall clock) in just sweatpants. Levi's arranging and rearranging his coffee table, having already straightened out all the books on the bookshelf. 

At least Erwin says nothing more when he walks over to the kitchen. Levi hears the tap running and a few drawers opening.

"Do you want French vanilla or hazelnut?"

Levi makes no reply but at least deigns to look up in Erwin's direction.

"Coffee I mean." Erwin waves with something in his hand. Of course he would be the type to use Keurig cups. Levi just looks back down to where he's arranging some cup holders on the table for the umpteenth time while Erwin goes back to the kitchen. He hears the machine start whirring and bubbling.

Erwin comes back out and sits down on the couch. Levi thinks he should be annoyed but the way Erwin puts a hand on his thigh, rubbing gently, eases some of his anger. 

"So you want to tell me why you're so angry?"

One of Levi's leg jerks unexpectedly. "What?"

"I don't get why you're practically bristling at me."

"Am not," Levi hisses. He doesn't want to fight this early in the morning but doesn't want Erwin to think it's okay.

Erwin stares at him for a while, though Levi just toys around with a scrap of paper that he couldn't figure out where to place. Erwin's hand's still on his thigh, and Levi catches a whiff of his aftershave and feels irrationally flattered that he tried.

"Sorry, I don't have people staying the night many times," Erwin admits. His fingers scratch Levi lightly, enough that it tickles and takes Levi's mind off the anger. 

"It's fine." Levi wants to say that isn't even the problem but he holds himself back. He straightens the remote against the end of the table slowly before placing his hand over Erwin's. 

After a long while, Erwin asks, "Do you want to watch TV?"

Levi shrugs. "Sure." His voice sounds forced to his own ears and he swallows thickly. If Erwin doesn't think anything was wrong he can stop acting like a child too.

When Erwin comes back with two cups of coffee he stops and chuckles at the fact that Levi got stuck on a blue information screen in the guide menu. 

"Your TV is a mess." 

"Press the red button."

"I did."

"Not the exit button. The C button."

Levi glares at him while Erwin sets the cups down and reaches over Levi for the remote. Erwin flicks the screen off infuriatingly easily and the show comes back onto display. Unfortunately it comes back on in the middle of the Saturday morning cartoons, which Levi doesn't feel the need to explain himself for (really, he was just flipping through the channels but if Erwin's going to roll with it, he will too).

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to ask if you wanted milk or sugar." Erwin passes the cup over and Levi takes it, sipping slowly.

"Hazelnut," he says. 

Erwin makes a noise of agreement, sliding closer. Levi tells himself not to make eye contact, that he's still annoyed for some reason at someone who offers him too-sugary hazelnut coffee. 

"I get these for Christmas every year. Somehow everyone in the office feels the need to contribute to the Erwin Smith caffeination enterprise."

Levi smiles despite himself. "That bad huh?"

For some reason neither feel the need to change the channel and Levi thinks how odd it is that he's never thought Erwin the conciliatory type, and yet what happened earlier doesn't get brought up. 

"You know," Levi begins easily, "You promised me breakfast a while ago."

Erwin's smile is strained when Levi looks over. "Levi, I feel like I've lost both arms. Can't you take a bit of pity?"

Levi scoffs. "A promise is a promise."

Erwin sighs. "It's too bad I don't have any..." He leaves off, remembering the grocery trip he and Levi just took. Levi grins, smug.

"I'll let you finish your coffee," he says. 

Erwin sighs, defeated. His phone buzzes and Erwin looks down distractedly at the ten o'clock alarm. "I usually go for a run around now."

Levi waits for more but Erwin doesn't say anything else.

"Yea, me too," Levi offers, glancing up. He thinks for a second that they might have even passed by each other without knowing it, but pushes the thought away as quickly as it came up. "Why?"

"Never mind."

Levi growls and smacks Erwin's knee. "You can't do that."

"I was going to ask if you wanted to come, but you don't have anything to run in."

"Oh." Levi's eyes flicker back to the screen. "You can go. I have to head back to get ready for work anyways."

"No, no, it's fine. We can -"

"Go for it. I don't want to stop you from your normal routine." Levi realizes that maybe he's not completely over waking up alone, especially since his tone of voice has Erwin staring at him.

There's a pause in which Levi probably places the mug back onto the coffee table a bit too loud. 

"You can go for your run. I'll still be here when you finish," Levi supplies in a softer tone. "But if this is your way of getting out of cooking me food."

"Not at all," Erwin reassures him easily. "I'm not going on the run anyways. I'm just so used to the alarm by now."

When Erwin doesn't say anything, Levi adds, "Whatever. You look like you need a run."

"Ouch." Erwin places a hand over his heart in mock insult. "Let me put on a shirt at least," he says, like Levi had stopped him in the first place.

Levi follows Erwin back to the bedroom, stopping on the way to shrug into his shirt from last night from where it was folded up on top of the dryer. He leaves his pants in the pile, still in just briefs. When he gets back to the room, Levi finds Erwin parsing through his dresser.

"You need a wardrobe makeover," Levi states.

"There's a lot of variety."

Levi tosses him a look before motioning towards the clothing rack. "Really."

"Good thing I make most clothes work."

"You'd look like shit in my clothes."

"Sorry we can't all wear children's sizes."

Levi tries to kick him in the shins, which Erwin easily side steps. 

"Why do you even bother going through it? You literally have two types of shirts." 

Erwin shrugs, sifting through the shirts hanging in his dresser. Levi's right of course - Erwin has a million dress shirts and a million casual T-shirts, and that's about it. 

Erwin straightens up and stretches ( _show off_  Levi wants to say, eyes trailing down to where his Calvin Klein briefs peak over the edge of his sweatpants).

Levi snorts. "Come on, pick a shirt already."

"I thought you were enjoying the show."

Levi doesn't expect such a casual tease to affect him so much, and it's only then that he remembers Erwin isn't what he's used to dating - Erwin isn't what he's used to associating with period. Levi's used to boys younger than him, potheads going to college just to delay getting into adult life, sweaty palms fumbling in the dark and stumbling against walls drunk.

Erwin shoots him a strange look when Levi doesn't respond. "Are you-"

"Wear that blue one." 

Erwin glances over to where Levi's pointing and pulls the blue shirt off the hanger. "All right."

"It brings out your eyes."

Erwin looks up and smiles. "That's surprisingly quaint."

Levi glares at him, hoping that his face isn't heating up. Erwin's smile drops suddenly and he leans in.

"What?"

"I never noticed," Erwin says. Levi takes a step back. "Your eyes are blue."

"And my hair's black. So what."

Erwin shrugs. "It suits you," he says, pulling the shirt over his head.

"Aren't you supposed to say sappy shit like that before you fuck me?"

Erwin looks like he has a retort but he doesn't say it, bending down to plant a kiss on Levi's ear. "I said it, didn't I?"

Somehow, when Erwin grabs his phone from his desk, he's already got a missed call. Erwin hits the call back button instinctively after giving the number a glance before he notices Levi. 

"Erwin," Levi starts, annoyed. Erwin wraps an arm around Levi's neck, pulling him in.  _Sorry_ , Erwin breathes into his hair. Levi drums his fingers along Erwin's palm and closes his eyes for a second before shrugging out of the hold and walking back to the living room.

In the end, it's a ten minute phone call and Levi manages to find something vaguely interesting on TV.

"Someone's popular," Levi quips when Erwin steps back out.

"Not at all," Erwin sighs. "That was the police department."

"So what'd you do this time?" Levi asks, pushing himself off the couch.

"Unfortunately they've found some evidence linking me back to a double homicide."

"Brutal."

Levi pushes past Erwin when he pulls the fridge door open and grabs the eggs and bacon. The bacon had been a last minute sneak-in on Erwin's part, though Levi's very glad because he has an immense craving for it right now.  

"But seriously, wanna tell me about the case you're working on?" Levi asks, looking for a large bowl. 

"Sure. Are you scrambling the eggs?"

"Want them another way?"

"No, just asking. I'll cook the bacon first. We can fry the eggs in the bacon grease."

Levi stares at him. "Are you hiding some inner Gordon Ramsay there?"

Erwin laughs. "You won't believe how many court break rooms play Food Network. It's one of the more neutral channels I suppose."

Levi shrugs, cracking open an egg. "I know people who'd get worked up over Rachel Ray."

"Or Nigella Lawson."

"Fuck, she's hot."

Erwin laughs, laying the bacon into the skillet pan. "So the case I'm working on. Still want to hear about it?"

"Yeah." Levi grabs the milk from the fridge and adds a splash to the eggs.

"The case hasn't been covered by any of the major papers yet only because we've been keeping everything shushed. It's the type of sensationalist stuff the press loves," Erwin says, sending Levi a wink. Levi tries to ignore how attractive Erwin is. 

"Our main actor is Mr. Wilson. 32 years old, graduated with bachelor of arts in English, was doing fine because he's inherited good property upstate. Recession hits, loses a lot of his fortune, realizes he can't sit at home writing novels all day."

"Bummer."

"He lands a job being a census worker. Really great job there. You get all the perks of being associated with the government, but you actually have to go out and talk to people."

Levi snorts. "You have a terrible sense of humor."

Erwin smiles, a quirk of his lip.

"Mr. Wilson lives with just his adopted son upstate. Real upstate, where you can walk out into your backyard and see bears. That's already a pretty bad situation, and on top of that, the people in the town think there's something off with him and basically ostracize him."

"What? That he was gay?"

Erwin shoots Levi a stunned look. "How'd you guess?"

Levi shrugs. "I'm used to people making assumptions based on shit like that."

Erwin says nothing for a while and just focuses on turning over the bacon slabs when they sizzle and crackle.

"So when we come back to Mr. Wilson in the present day - well, two weeks ago - he's dead."

Levi raises an incredulous eyebrow. His hands have dropped from the bowl where he's beating the eggs.

"This is pretty gruesome. A couple of hikers actually found him on their path. He's hung by the neck, naked, a few feet away from the edge of the highest cliff."

Levi pushes off where he's leaning on the counter and stands up straight. "What?"

"This is the most important part. He's got the word FED written in red Sharpie across his collarbone."

Levi bristles. "So it's a hate crime."

Erwin shrugs. "That's what it looked like initially. The town residents deny anything and the police there refuse to call it a homicide."

"What? But there's all the evidence for a murder!"

"That's the interesting part. There's actually no evidence of murder. No sign of a struggle anywhere on his body, or in the surroundings. He could have been killed somewhere else and taken to the location, but the area looks pristine. Unless whoever killed him managed to get him all the way up there without a vehicle."

Erwin turns to face Levi, letting the bacon sizzle in the skillet. "Here's where I come in. I get a call from his insurance company a day or two after the death."

"Insurance? Like life insurance?"

"Right. Turns out he's taken a $2 million insurance policy against himself."

Levi's brows shoot up. 

"Understandable, given his line of profession and the neighborhood he lived in. But the strange part is that the insurance is taken out just nine months before, with no prior prompting. He didn't get sick nor did he start with a lower policy."

Levi shifts his weight onto this other foot. "Who's the beneficiary? The son?" Erwin nods.

"So what ticked us off was the way FED was written."

Levi has a sinking feeling this won't be something he wants to hear. 

"The handwriting and the angle of the stroke indicates that he did it himself," Erwin states. 

Levi doesn't know what to say for a moment. "You're on the prosecution team?"

Erwin looks surprised for a moment. "Oh sorry, did I forget to mention that?"

"And you're going to help the insurance company win a case against someone who's  _already dead_?"

Erwin looks at Levi like he's missing a very obvious point, lips pressed into thin lines. "Levi, he tried to take advantage of the life insurance institution."

"So what? That's probably some multi-billion dollar company you're fighting for!"

Erwin sighs. "Can I get a plate please?"

When Levi makes no move, Erwin pushes past him and grabs two plates. After transferring the bacon Erwin leans against the side of the stove to face Levi. The flame is still on and the grease sizzles where it sits. 

"Levi, do you not agree the man is a criminal?"

"No."

"Why is that?"

"He's not the one who's going to benefit from some million dollar payout. He's  _dead_!"

"So let's say I shoot and kill someone who happens to my sister's husband's mistress, but then I kill myself afterwards. My sister's the one who's benefitting from it, and I'm dead. Does that absolve me of the crime?"

Levi loses Erwin somewhere around sister's husband's mistress, and he realizes what Erwin's trying to do. "Fuck, that's not the same!"

"How so?"

Levi's angry, not so much from the topic but from the fact that Erwin's doing the same thing he'd do in a courtroom. He's talking circles around him as if Levi couldn't possibly understand. 

"Erwin, just shut up."

Erwin looks like he's about to counter with something, cinching the victory, until he sees Levi's face. It's tight and consciously controlled. 

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up," he says, smiling placating. Somehow that only makes it worse. Erwin reaches for the bowl of eggs and stirs them on the pan. 

They eat breakfast in tense silence until Levi has to leave for work.

 


	8. Chapter 7

They don’t talk the next day or Tuesday, and by Wednesday, Levi’s wondering if he’s the one who’s supposed to send the first text message. It feels like a break up, but he’s not even sure if they had enough of an actual  _relationship_  for this to be the breakup. 

It’s not his fault, he tells himself when he spends Monday and Tuesday cleaning and catching up on TV shows. It’s Erwin’s fault for being a pretentious and stuck up prick, but this is all going downhill if they’re both going to think on those terms.

More importantly, Levi’s scared beyond reason at the prospect of Erwin walking out.

Petra’s the one who tells him to take off early after he knocks the stack of cartridges over for the third time. Levi refuses out of principle, but for once he doesn’t stay late, trusting his staff to close up just fine. 

He itches for a cigarette but instead he pulls out his phone and thumbs Erwin’s name. They only have a few messages together - Erwin asking Levi to the bar, Levi asking for directions. Dated more than a week ago. 

"Hey." Erwin’s voice sounds far away when he answers.

"Hey, it’s Levi." 

Erwin chuckles. “Yeah, I know. How was work?”

Levi shrugs before he remembers Erwin can’t see him. “The usual. A client canceled so it was a pretty light day. I’m walking back from work just now.”

"Same here. Well, I’m driving."

"What? Driving in Midtown?"

"I’m an hour away from the city right now. I went upstate for a quick interview."

"Hey, get off the phone. I’ll talk to you later."

"What?"

"I don’t want you on the phone when you’re driving."

Erwin says nothing for a moment and Levi thinks maybe he’s already hung up, but when Erwin speaks again, it sounds softer. “Thanks for the concern. I’m fine though, I’ve got you on Bluetooth.” Levi thinks he can hear the smile in Erwin’s voice and he clutches the phone a bit closer. 

He almost says be safe. 

"Why were you upstate though?"

There’s another pause. “Remember the case I told you about? With the life insurance?”

Instinctively, Levi wants to dodge it, but he grits his teeth and tells himself to keep going. “Yeah. What about it?”

"I talked with his son today."

In the background, Levi hears someone say Erwin’s name and he tenses. “Who’s with you?”

Erwin doesn’t answer right away, and he hears some thumps from his end and realizes he’s being partially blocked out. “It’s just Levi,” he hears Erwin say, and Levi doesn’t know whether to be angry or pleased that Erwin’s told someone about him. 

"Sorry, I’m with Mike, my coworker," Erwin says after a bit. "I was just letting him know you weren’t involved in the case."

"Okay," Levi breathes out. He wonders when he’d stopped on the side of the street and starts walking toward his apartment again. "So how was the talk?"

"It went all right." There’s a pause. "I’m sorry about Sunday."

Levi swallows hard, relief flooding through him. He reaches into his pocket, fumbling with his keychain for a few seconds, letting the edge of his apartment key dig into his fingers. “Yeah, me too.”

"Let’s talk about it later. I’ll call you after i drop off Mike."

"Okay."

Erwin presses the hang up button on the Bluetooth, dodging Mike’s questioning look.

"So who’s Levi?" 

Erwin’s smile is strained. “He’s just someone.”

——

Erwin calls him an hour later, when Levi’s in the middle of finishing a sketch. 

"Are you free tonight?" Erwin asks as soon as the call picks up. Levi can hear a car horn blasting off in the background. 

Levi looks at the time - a bit after nine o’clock. “Sure. Are you back in the city?”

"I just dropped Mike off. I can drive down to where you live if that’s fine with you."

Levi gets up and starts walking around his desk. “It’s fine. You sure you’re not too tired?”

Erwin’s laugh is warm on the other end. “I’m fine. It was a pretty easy drive. I wanted to see you anyways.”

Levi can’t remember how he’d managed to walk all the way to his kitchen. 

"Hello?"

Levi shuts the fridge door. “Sorry, I was distracted. We can meet tonight.”

"Did you eat dinner yet?"

"Not yet. Want me to cook you something?" He hates the way he says it and almost takes it back. 

"It’s fine. I can grab take out on my way there. Oh wait, I guess -"

"No, take out’s fine. What were you thinking?"

"Hmm, well I’ll stop by your place first and we can figure it out."

"Okay. Where are you now?"

"About a block away. You can come down."

Levi scowls before he hangs up with a quick bye, rushing to grab his socks. He checks himself briefly in the bathroom mirror, combing down nonexistent fly-aways before realizing what he’s doing. He doesn’t want to make this a big deal if Erwin isn’t. Levi slips on his socks and toes into his boots before heading downstairs. 

Erwin’s double parked outside, and he flashes the headlights twice when he sees Levi. 

"Hey," Erwin offers when Levi pulls open the passenger door. "Come in."

"You’re not coming up?" Levi asks. 

"Let’s get something to eat first, if that’s alright with you. I’m starving." Levi gets in. The car’s nice and the seats are soft, but it’s not something Levi thought Erwin would drive.

"I didn’t think you’d get here so fast."

Erwin shrugs, turning the engine back on. The car hums and vibrates before blasting Levi with a jolt of hot air. “Sorry about that - this car’s kind of old. Mike doesn’t live too far from here.”

"I didn’t know you could drive," Levi offers once they start moving. Erwin looks out the window as he merges back into one of the larger streets.

"I don’t really. I used to love driving when I first got my license but I haven’t driven in years. This is just a rental car." That at least explains why the car’s so plain. 

"I don’t even have a permit."

Erwin smiles and glances over briefly. “Typical city person right there.” Erwin has both hands on the wheel. His suit is on a hanger in the back and the sleeves of his dress shirt are unbuttoned and rolled to his elbow. Levi wants to reach over and trace the veins going up his forearms, but there’s still a tense barrier between them.

"Want to go anywhere?"

Levi shrugs. “Not anywhere specific.”

Erwin has something soft playing in the background and Levi reaches over to turn up the volume and starts messing with the dial before he realizes. “Sorry, do you mind if -“

"No, not at all."

Levi keeps turning the dial, feeling overwhelmingly self-conscious and ends up back on the station they first started at. When he looks out the window again, it looks like they’re out of Levi’s neighborhood.

"Where are we going?"

Erwin shrugs. “I’m just cruising around.”

Levi watches the street lights flash by outside his window and at some point Erwin slides his hand onto Levi’s thigh, resting there warmly. 

Stubbornly, Levi wants an apology in person, but it seems like Erwin’s not about to say it again. At the next red light, Erwin looks over at Levi and runs his hand down to Levi’s knee, giving it a light squeeze. 

Levi thinks he needs to say sorry at that point, but by the time he schools himself into doing it, the light turns green and Erwin’s hand returns to the steering wheel. 

"Hey, let’s go to the pier."

Erwin looks over for half a second and Levi thinks he’s going to object, but he nods. “That’s fine. I don’t know if there’s parking though.”

"You can use the parking lot behind Red Lobster. No one ever eats there anyways."

Erwin smiles. “I eat there.”

"You would."

Erwin taps along to the music on his steering wheel. “Where do you want to grab food?”

"Don’t care. I picked the location so you can pick the food place."

"Okay, what about that one there?"

Levi squints at the name. “Looks dirty.”

"All right, what about that one down the road?"

"Are you trying to take me to McDonald’s?"

"I’m pretty sure they have a children’s menu there."

Levi punches Erwin’s arm hard enough that the car swerves about, although Erwin doesn’t seem to mind. Levi pulls back, embarrassed, mumbling an apology. 

"Why do you keep bringing up the child thing? Are you some kind of pedophile?"

Erwin laughs. “I sure hope not. I thought you were at least legal age.”

"I’m twenty-six, dumbass."

Levi realizes it’s the first time he’s told Erwin his age and wonders if Erwin’s surprised. Irritatingly, Erwin seems as good as always at keeping a neutral smile on his face. 

"So what about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Don’t play stupid. i bet you’re over forty or something."

"Ouch. You’d sleep with someone that much older?"

"Maybe," Levi says just so Erwin doesn’t have the satisfaction of getting a proper answer. He shoots Erwin a harsh glare when he starts laughing. "What’s wrong with you?"

"You’re calling me a pedophile, and here you are with your daddy issues."

Levi definitely didn’t sputter something stupid at that. 

"What?"

Erwin winks at him. “You’d probably like it if i was that old.”

"You just want me to call you daddy or something."

"I’m not objecting to that."

Levi waits until they’re at a red light before he punches Erwin harder than before. “You deserved that, asshole.”

Erwin rubs his arm tenderly. “So how old do you think I am?”

Levi shrugs. “Thirty-eight.”

"Thirty-two. I don’t think I look that old."

Six years. Not bad, Levi thinks, though he’s honestly surprised Erwin’s barely in his thirties. 

Somehow they end up driving all the way to Red Lobster without finding something Levi wants to eat and Erwin circles around for a bit before Levi gives up and concedes to eating McDonald’s. Erwin looks extremely amused. 

"I don’t think I’ve been here since I was a kid." With my parents, Levi almost says, before he drops the subject. 

"Well, like I said-"

"Fuck off, I can order off the adult menu."

Erwin stands close to Levi on line and presses his arm lightly against Levi’s shoulder. “I like your shirt.”

Levi looks down. He’s just in a simple gray v-neck and jeans. “It’s what I usually wear.”

"Not true. You’re usually in all black." Levi kicks Erwin, who smiles and says, "You’re offended by everything."

"I’m not offended," Levi explains. "I just do that."

Erwin accepts it, and pushes Levi forward when the register is open, stepping up behind him. 

Levi turns around. “I can get it.”

Erwin shakes his head. “That’s fine, I’ll get this one.”

"It’s McDonald’s. I can pay for this just fine."

"Levi -"

"I said _don’t pay for me,”_ Levi practically hisses, face heating up. Thankfully, Erwin just nods and steps back before Levi turns around to face the cashier. He realizes he has no idea what he even wants and just blurts out “number one” and declines the drink. 

Erwin touches his arm lightly and when Levi finally looks up, he offers an apology. Levi thinks it’s not so much the apology but how  _sincere_  Erwin approaches things. Levi runs a hand through his hair tiredly, not wanting to broach something in the middle of a fast food place, but he reaches up to pull at Erwin’s collar until it’s straight. 

"Sorry," Levi says when they step outside with their paper bags. "I didn’t mean to do that."

"It’s fine. I get it."

Levi doesn’t realize he’s grabbed Erwin’s hand until it happens, and sees Erwin try to hide his own shock. 

"Look, it’s just me," Levi continues lamely, staring down at their hands. "Sorry I overreact. For that. And for Sunday."

"Ah, well, Sunday was my fault. I shouldn’t have brought that up."

Levi’s annoyed at that, because he’s not a child, and Erwin can say what he wants. He says something along that line and feels Erwin shrug. 

Levi pulls Erwin along the streets, trying to remember the path to the water, but when they finally get to the street he remembers, the pier’s been fenced off. 

"Ah, maybe the entrance’s somewhere else?" Erwin offers. Levi huffs, annoyed, but pulls Erwin along the fence for the next few minutes before the fence cuts off abruptly at the back of a building. Levi thinks of scaling it but remembers Erwin’s wearing nice clothes. 

"What the hell’s the point of having a pier if you’re going to fence it off?" Levi grumbles.

"Let’s find somewhere to sit around here."

Levi purses his lips and scans the area, before tugging on Erwin again. “The car’s not parked far from here. Let’s just go back.” 

It’s too nice of a night to sit inside, so they end up sitting on the hood, Levi leaning against Erwin for warmth. The number one turns out to be a Big Mac, and Levi frowns at it while Erwin digs into his sandwich.

"Just take a bite," Erwin says after he swallows. It’s just dark enough that he can’t really see his face. "Here, try mine."

Levi pulls away. “What is that even?”

"Premium grilled chicken."

Levi sniffs it before taking a bite, chewing thoughtfully. “I don’t get it. You always eat like shit when you can obviously eat better.”

Erwin shrugs. “I never get to eat like this at work or meeting with clients. It’s nice to relax and eat awful food.”

"Oh," Levi says, swallowing, feeling a pang of guilt. "Sorry."

Erwin looks down while Levi fumbles with the box his burger came in. “Sorry. I’m just stressing you out more.” 

Erwin nudges Levi. “I don’t know where you get these ideas from. I wanted to see you all day, and I’m still glad I got to see you.”

Levi swallows around a bite of food before pushing it away towards Erwin. He ignores the last bit Erwin says, thankful yet again for how dark it is around him. “You can finish it for me. I don’t like it.”

At least Erwin doesn’t apologize, just leans down to kiss him on the cheek. Levi leans up and pulls him by his collar, pressing his lips firmly against Erwin’s. 

"If you’re going to kiss me," Levi says, "At least do it properly."

"I just thought you wouldn’t want me to while eating," Erwin says. "But in that case-"

"No, no, you’re right," Levi replies, shoving his face away. "Get away from me." 

To his surprise, Erwin actually does, pushing off the hood of the car. He watches Erwin dig through his pockets for the keys and Levi only remains where he is after Erwin flashes him a smile. Erwin emerges with his suit jacket, and throws it around Levi, who fidgets and glares at him. 

"I thought so," Erwin breathes.

"What?"

Erwin smiles, pulling the jacket a bit tighter. “You look very handsome.”

Levi kicks him without thinking, though Erwin steps back to avoid it. “What the hell is wrong with you tonight?” Levi starts shrugging out of it but Erwin smacks his hand back down. 

"Keep it on, you do look good," Erwin says, getting back onto the hood.

"You mean I look half-drowned in this."

"Maybe. But you looked cold."

"Was not," Levi insists, even if it was true. He presses against Erwin again, trying not to notice how much stronger Erwin’s cologne comes across now that Levi’s wearing his jacket. 

Erwin ends up eating Levi’s food as well while Levi picks half-heartedly at the fries. He shares Erwin’s lemonade (seriously? What are you, five?) because he’d declined his own drink. He lets Erwin talk about his day and his clients, lets him wrap an arm around his shoulder and pull him closer. 

"Hey, did you really mean that? That I’m relaxing to be around?" Levi asks after a comfortable lull in conversation. 

"Yes."

Levi makes a sound of acknowledgement before grabbing their trash and pushing off the hood. Erwin’s still sitting on the hood of his car when Levi walks back. 

"Anywhere else you want to go?"

Levi shakes his head. “Let’s call it a day.”

Erwin gets into his seat while Levi hangs up the jacket before pulling open the driver side door. Erwin looks up expectantly. 

"Push the seat back." Erwin does it after a second of hesitation and Levi climbs in, straddling Erwin and closing the door after him. 

If there’s one thing he loves about Erwin, it’s that he knows how to hold back. Levi relishes in that self-restraint as he traces one finger along Erwin’s jawline, down his throat in time to the way Erwin swallows in anticipation. 

Levi’s the one who cracks first, yanking Erwin up to kiss him harshly, bowing over his body almost ferally and he squeezes his knees around Erwin’s thighs. Erwin runs his hand up the back of Levi’s thigh, keeps one hand on Levi’s ass while the other runs up his shirt, tracing the bumps along his spine. Levi’s kiss gets desperate and he runs his fingers through Erwin’s hair, one hand tilting Erwin’s jaw towards him.

Erwin pulls back enough to get Levi’s shirt off, tossing it into the passenger seat and for once Levi doesn’t care. 

"Do you have a condom?" he asks hoarsely. 

Erwin shakes his head. “I’ll learn to always have one around you.”

Levi grins before shimmying his way down, squeezing under the dashboard. He presses his face forward, resting his cheek against the inside of Erwin’s thigh. He’s glad there’s enough light at least to see Erwin swallow again, one hand running through Levi’s hair, though not with as much force as Levi would like.

"I’ve always wanted to do this," Levi says, hushed. 

"You’ve never?"

"Not in a car." Levi presses forward, kissing the bulge of Erwin’s pants lightly before pulling back. "I’ll try to keep the pants clean." He pushes himself between Erwin’s calves, kisses Erwin’s chest through his shirt, lets Erwin push his head down.

Erwin’s no where near fully hard when Levi finally pulls his briefs down, but he hums appreciatively when Levi pushes his cock against his lips. Levi starts slow, a combination of being out of practice and an underlying repulsion against doing this, despite what he tells himself. 

"Erwin," Levi breathes, pulling off with a wet plop. He’s debating whether he should say anything, but Erwin’s still looking at him like he’s something special. "Don’t… don’t push me down or anything. I’ve got a terrible gag reflex." He goes down again just to avoid looking at Erwin, though Erwin’s hand is still gentle against his hair. 

Levi goes slowly but Erwin moans and thrusts his hips shallowly, and Levi’s surprised to find it’s no where as terrible as he remembers. Erwin’s as massive as before, if not more so when it’s in front of his face, but he lets himself concentrate, tracing the veins down to his base, one hand cupping Erwin’s balls while his licks his way up to the head. At one point he thinks he looks up, smiling lightly. Erwin laughs at him.

"What?" Erwin asks. Levi shakes his head before going down again. Erwin lets him take his time and Levi focuses on finding the spots that make Erwin shiver and dig his fingers into his hair. When Erwin comes, Levi swallows around him, trying to keep it in his mouth as he pushes the door open and walks over to the trash can to spit it out. 

Levi takes his time walking back, shivering from the cold. Erwin grabs a tissue from a travel pack in the storage compartment and pulls Levi down to wipe the come on his chin. Levi thinks he probably looks like an amateur right now. 

"Do you have gum or something?" Levi asks, voice hoarse. Erwin shakes his head but Levi shrugs and walks around to the passenger side. 

"You don’t taste too bad," Levi offers once he shrugs back into his shirt. He pulls down the mirror on the top compartment and stares at himself. His face is blotchy, his lips swollen and hair askew. Erwin glances over and smiles.

"You look good," Erwin says and Levi tilts his head to the side, grinning. 

"Yea?"

"Absolutely." 

Levi fixes his hair in the mirror a bit before he pulls the seat belt around him and sinks back into the car. 

He doesn’t realize he’s dozed off until he wakes up with his head against the window. Erwin’s tapping away on his phone but looks up when Levi shifts around. 

"Fuck ow." Levi goes to massage his neck, cringing. "You drove me back?"

Erwin smiles, finishing his message before putting the phone away. “We got here a while ago.”

Levi jerks his head towards Erwin. “What?”

"You were out cold. I didn’t want to wake you up."

"So you were just staring at me the entire time."

Erwin waves his phone. “I was just catching up on emails. Besides, I’ve seen you in more compromising positions.”

Levi wipes at his mouth, wishing he had something to drink. “Whatever, pervert.”

Erwin smiles, pressing a kiss to the side of Levi’s lip. 

"That was fun," Levi offers, brushing a lock of hair behind Erwin’s ear. "Get back safe."

"Goodnight Levi," Erwin says, kissing him again.


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the long wait! Nostalgia is not really making a grand comeback, but I will be continuing it... just not in the immediate time frame. Posting this little short on AO3 first, cause I owe you guys so much for the continued support. :)

Levi is understandably annoyed when Erwin opens the door sheepishly and tries to toe across the floor as gently as possible. 

"Just get back here, you woke me up already," Levi growls from bed. He's buried in a mountain of comforters (and Erwin learned quickly to keep the bed stocked with two sets of blankets and pillows). 

"Sorry," Erwin says, crawling back into bed. Levi blinks at him blearily before rolling over to face him properly. "Can I get in?" Erwin asks, nodding at the cocoon Levi's managed to twist himself into. Levi frowns, pulling an arm out to try and tug the comforters out from beneath him. Erwin lies down facing him, amused. 

Levi flops back onto his back before managing to get a section out. "You don't even deserve this," Levi huffs. Erwin tries not to reflect too much on that as he tugs as much of the comforter over himself as he can.

"Sorry," he says again, though Levi looks like he's too gone to hear him at this point. "I forgot to set my phone on silent."

Levi says nothing, and Erwin takes it as forgiveness when he shifts himself closer, careful to stay on his own pillow. Levi sleeps with his mouth half-open, one cheek red and striped from the pillow case.

"Quit staring," Levi mutters, not bothering to open his eyes. "I'm having a hard enough time falling back asleep."

Certainly explains the mess.

"Why so moody, pumpkin?" Levi's lips twitch upwards, imperceptible other than for the fact that Erwin looks for it every time. Levi can pretend he hates nicknames all he wants, which he does when he opens his eyes to glare with the malice of a lion cub. Erwin swings an arm over Levi's waist, pulling him closer. Pumpkin definitely isn't right, and though he's been tossing around a couple of names for the past month, nothing seems to fit all that well. 

Levi's teeth latch on gently at his shoulder. "I'm tired and I'm fucking horny."

Erwin tries not to think of the marathon sex they had last night. He presses himself more into Levi. "Want me to do anything?"

Levi snorts into his neck. "Fuck no, I just want to sleep. It's like four in the morning."

"Seven."

Levi mumbles some incoherent insult. "Just talk me back to sleep or something."

"You looked great riding my cock last night."

Levi kicks Erwin weakly. "I hate you."

"Not what you said last night." Erwin presses his lips against the silhouette of wings tattooed at the base of Levi's neck, sighing deeply when Levi tilts his head back to give Erwin more access. "What was that you called me? Your cocksucking daddy?"

It's only because he's so close that he can hear the mortified squeak barely muffled. Erwin presses wet, open-mouthed kisses along the arch of Levi's neck until Levi is squirming uncomfortably. He manages to free his arms to push Erwin away. 

"I'm going back to sleep," Levi says flatly, though he's staring at Erwin too intently to feign indifference.

"Want daddy to tuck you in?"

"Holy fuck, don't be creepy, old man." Levi tosses an arm over his face to hide his rising embarrassment, and tries to turn away from Erwin. "You already look like some middle-aged creep when you haven't shaved yet."

Erwin flips Levi onto his back, pushes the arm away from his face and makes sure Levi is looking at him when he whispers, honey sweet, "Bet you've never had your cock sucked by someone with stubble."

Levi squeezes his eyes shut, but Erwin doesn't miss the way his hips jut up eagerly. Levi lets out a hard breath through his nose. Erwin remains poised above him, not moving until Levi mumbles something under his breath. 

"What was that?" Erwin asks. The tips of Levi's ears are red, but he's composed when he opens his eyes to shoot a feral grin at Erwin. 

"Are you all talk, or are you going to treat your little boy?"

Erwin should be disgusted at himself sometimes, he thinks. He doesn't even have much of a daddy kink - Levi's the one who's convinced he does, and Erwin is eager to roll with whatever Levi wants. 

The tangle of comforters is another issue. They're both a bit frustrated and impatient by the time Erwin manages to toss them aside, at least that's what Erwin tells himself later when he practically hitches Levi half off the bed to bite at his hips. Levi shamelessly swings a leg over Erwin's shoulder, sighing into the bed. 

"Oh  _fuck_  that's sensitive," he moans when Erwin moves down to his thighs. Erwin kisses up the leg on his shoulder, smiling when Levi presses himself harder against Erwin's still unshaven cheek. Levi's cock stands proudly when Erwin wraps a hand lightly around it, pressing his thumb into the base. He can tease Levi all he wants later - for now, he can't resist the unguarded way Levi licks his lips and looks down expectantly. 

"Have you ever thought about getting tattooed down here?" Erwin asks, pumping him slowly. Levi's eyes are a bit unfocused and it takes him longer than usual to blink and look back at Erwin.

"Like  _nnh!_  on my dick?"

Erwin's face blanches. "I meant your hips," he amends quickly, trying to push the image from his mind.

"People do that you know," Levi says, pushing up impatiently when Erwin's hand stills. "Oh fuck, don't worry, you're not gonna wake up with your dick tattooed or something."

"I'm sorry I asked," Erwin says, a bit nauseated when he moves his hand again. His cock had certainly flagged a bit at the thought, though Levi's remains as hard as ever. "Back to the question though - any plans for your hips?"

Levi's pants softly into the air, ignoring the question.  _"Erwin,_  are you gonna suck me or not?"

Erwin loves the way Levi is uninhibited and open, is almost jealous of the way Levi so easily lets out a hoarse cry when Erwin swallows him to the hilt at once. Levi fits him so perfectly, bumps the back of his throat just enough that it makes his eyes sting.

"Slow down," Levi moans, even as he presses against Erwin's shoulder with one leg. 

Erwin squeezes his mouth around the tip before pulling back. "I love the way your skin marks up," Erwin says, his cheeks scraping the sensitive skin along Levi's inner thigh. Levi makes some annoyed sound that dissolves into a sob when Erwin licks his way down again.

Erwin's always had a bit of an oral fixation, but nothing like the way he wants to kiss every inch of Levi's body. It doesn't help that he knows Levi loves seeing the way the tattoo moves along his back every time he goes down.

Levi tugs at Erwin's hair in warning, and Erwin pulls off, finishing him with his hand. He grabs a tissue from the box on the nightstand while Levi looks at him dazedly. He looks so happy and soft when he reaches for Erwin, pulling him down to lie on his side. 

Levi kisses him sleepily along the jaw, hands fumbling down Erwin's torso. He wraps a hand around Erwin's cock, squeezing and pulling lazily. 

"Don't pass out on me," Erwin says, wrapping a hand around Levi's to help him out. 

" _Shut up_ , I don't see you riding dick until two in the morning," Levi mutters into Erwin's chest. Then his hand stops and he looks up, suddenly alert. "I'm serious though. Pick up another work call at seven again, and I'm not touching your cock for a month."

Erwin makes no promise that he'll break, instead dipping his head to nudge his nose into Levi's cheek. "So any more tattoos anytime soon?"

Levi closes his eyes again. "I swear you only like me for the tats, you ass," he mumbles contently. His hand stops moving until Erwin's brushes over his again. "No plans yet, but maybe you'll inspire me." 

Levi squeezes just under the head of Erwin's cock, where he said he was most sensitive, breathing softly. Erwin thinks about Levi trusting him enough to let him pick out the next design, marking him in some way tangible, and it's all  _so good_  he has to bite back the gasping moan -

\- when it stops.

Erwin opens his eyes, incredulous at Levi, hand still wrapped around his cock, softly snoring against his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, I have more fics on eightmin.tumblr.com


End file.
